Japanese wine

Although viticulture and the cultivation of grapes for table consumption has a long history in Japan, domestic wine production using locally produced grapes only really began with the adoption of Western culture during the Meiji restoration in the second half of the 19th century.

According to data from the Japan Wineries Association, approximately 365,000 kiloliters of wine was purchased in Japan in 2013 of which two-thirds was imported wine. Of the 110,000 kiloliters of domestically produced wine only a quarter, or 26,400 kiloliters, came from domestically grown and harvested grapes.

The main region for winemaking in Japan is in Yamanashi Prefecture which accounts for 40% of domestic production, although grapes are cultivated and wine is also produced in more limited quantities by vintners from Hokkaido in the North to Miyazaki Prefecture on the Southern island of Kyushu.

History

Early History

Legend has it that grape-growing in Japan began in 718 AD, in Katsunuma, Yamanashi Prefecture. The first regularly documented wine consumption in Japan was however in the 16th century, with the arrival of Jesuit missionaries from Portugal. Saint Francis Xavier brought wines as gifts for the feudal lords of Kyūshū, and other missionaries continued the practice, resulting in locals acquiring taste for wine and importing it regularly. They called the Portuguese wine chintashu (珍陀酒), combining the Portuguese word tinto (chinta in Japanese) meaning red and shu (酒) meaning liquor.