Japan Heritage story
140 years of Japan Wine: Koshu and Ushiku
日本ワイン140年史
Japan Wine, made from grapes grown in Japan, began 140 years ago in two towns. In Koshu, Yamanashi, young men trained in France and local farmers built a wine region of about 30 wineries; in Ushiku, Ibaraki, the founder of Tokyo's Kamiya Bar built Japan's first real chateau.
Key facts
- Theme
- Food and sake
- Era
- Meiji
- Region
- Kanto, Chubu, Kyushu & Okinawa
- Official name in Japanese
- 日本ワイン140年史
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ～国産ブドウで醸造する和文化の結晶～
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 茨城県（牛久市）・山梨県（甲州市）
The story
In 1877 Japan's first private winery opened in Katsunuma, now part of Koshu, and sent 19-year-old Tsuchiya Ryuken and Takano Masanari to France. Back home, they made Japan's first proper wine from local Koshu grapes in 1879, and two unopened bottles survive as the oldest Japan Wine. The company soon closed, as few Japanese liked wine, but Miyazaki Kotaro kept going with sweetened wine and, in 1912, opened Miyakoen, the first winery that welcomed visitors to tour, taste and buy.
In Tokyo, Kamiya Denbei, founder of Kamiya Bar, had sold sweet wine since 1881 but dreamed of making wine in Japan. He cleared about 119 ha in Ushiku, planted 6,000 vines and in 1903 opened Ushiku Chateau, built on the Bordeaux model, with a trolley line to Ushiku Station. From around 1975, tastes moved from sweet wine to dry, and both towns still compete and cooperate to spread Japan Wine.
What to see
- Miyakoen: Miyazaki Kotaro's home and winery, now a museum of early Japanese winemaking.Google Maps 宮光園 (opens in a new tab)
- Ushiku Chateau: the European castle-like winery of 1903, with old barrels and trolley tracks.Google Maps 牛久シャトー (opens in a new tab)
- Katsunuma wineries: about 30 wineries, from European-style buildings to converted farmhouses.
Plan your trip with the Yamanashi prefecture guide and the Ibaraki prefecture guide. For the vineyard landscapes around Katsunuma, see this story.
Good to know
- Visit Ushiku Chateau in spring, when about 200 cherry trees bloom for the cherry festival.
- Taste wine from Koshu grapes and Muscat Bailey A, the two grapes Japan makes most wine from.
- Miyakoen is a good first stop before touring Katsunuma's wineries.
Questions travellers ask
What is Japan Wine?
Wine made in Japan from grapes grown in Japan.
Who built Ushiku Chateau?
Kamiya Denbei, founder of Tokyo's Kamiya Bar, in 1903. It was Japan's first full-scale winery that grew, made and bottled its own wine.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Ancient monuments: the burial mound landscapes of Miyazaki
- Awa, home of indigo: the blue that dyed all of Japan
- Flame-style pottery of the Shinano River: Jomon art from snow country
- Japan's old schools: where a nation learned to read
- Kasamashiko: the sibling pottery towns of Kasama and Mashiko
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Mitake Shosenkyo: the crystal gorge behind Yamanashi's craft
- Oyama Mairi: the Edo people's pilgrimage and day out
- Starry Jomon highlands: obsidian mines of central Japan
- Tokamachi, the ultimate snow country
- Vineyard landscapes of eastern Yamanashi
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.