Japanese pure malt is a blend of 100% malt whiskies from different distilleries. This is in contrast to a single malt, which is a malt whisky from only one distillery.
Blended malt and vatted malt are synonyms of pure malt.
Famous Pure Malt Japanese Whiskies
Nikka’s Taketsuru, which blends Yoichi and Miyagikyo malt whiskies, is by far the most popular pure malt. And it set the modern definition for what pure malt means.
But in the past, “pure malt” often meant any whisky made with 100% malted barley. The term was used in Scotland and Japan. Before 1984, Suntory sold its Yamazaki whisky as a pure malt.