Japan Finally Gets Rules About Japanese Whisky Photo: TORU YAMANAKA / Staff (Getty Images) Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am. Advertisement Compared to Scotch and bourbon, the regulations regarding Japanese whisky have been lax at best. There has long been ambiguity about what exactly makes Japanese whisky ‘Japanese’. The technique is not originally Japanese (though there have been some interesting innovations in Japan), the grain is typically (but not always) imported, the barrels used for maturation are not traditional Japanese style casks, and the wood, save for a small percentage, is either European or American white oak. So what is Japanese about Japanese whisky?