page_title: Japanese wine
section_title: 20th century
hierarchical_section_title: Japanese wine / History / 20th century
caption_attribution_description: A advertising poster of "Akadama Port Wine” for Suntory Limited. This is the first nude advertising poster in Japan. Published in 1922 (Taisho 11). Directed by KATAOKA, Toshiro; featuring MATSUSHIMA, Emiko.
context_page_description: 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 Japan's National Tax Agency for 2017, approximately 382,000 kiloliters of wine was purchased in Japan, of which two-thirds was imported wine. Of the 102,000 kiloliters of wine domestically produced that year, only a fifth came from domestically grown and harvested grapes. The Agency states the share of Japanese wine, as defined as domestically produced wine from domestically grown grapes, as only 4% of total domestic consumption, or 14,988 kiloliters. Only 58 kiloliters of Japanese wine was exported overseas.
  The main region for winemaking in Japan is in Yamanashi Prefecture which accounts for approximately a third of domestic production, although grapes are cultivated and wine is also produced in more limited quantities by vintners throughout the country, from Hokkaido in the North to Miyazaki Prefecture on the Southern island of Kyushu.
context_section_description: In many prefectures a few small scale viniculturists remained, but it was not until after World War II that the scale of winemaking began to grow. However, in comparison to the growth of imported wines and the production of low cost retail wines from imported grape juices, domestically grown and harvested wine still remained at an early stage of development.
  In terms of Japanese taste for domestically produced wine, astringency and acidity were not readily accepted at the beginning.² For a long time sugars such as honey were added to moderate the flavor and "sweet" (甘口, amakuchi) wine was the mainstay. In 1907, Shinjiro Torii, founder of the Suntory beverages empire launched Red Sun Port Wine (赤玉ポートワイン, Akadama Pōto Wain) with an advertising campaign in 1922 that both scandalized with its suggestion of nudity, and prompted a huge boost to sales. The trend for sweetened, fortified and medicinal tonic wines continued until the 1970s when wine was still fundamentally known as grape liquor (葡萄酒, budōshu), and only a small minority imported and drank European wine.³
  During the 1970s and 80s the skill level of wine making increased and the purchases of both imported and domestic wine grew with the rapidly expanding economy. Specialists began to call their holdings "wineries", and the emulation of Western style hedging and cultivation of insect resistant grape varieties spread. For the first time domestic wineries began to focus on producing superior wines using only domestically cultivated grapes. Also, in response to demand from Japanese consumers, the production of organic wines also became popular.
  In the 1990s and 2000s due to a reduction in taxes on imported wine and a diversification of Japanese food culture, wine consumption continued to grow. In 1995, Shinya Tasaki became the first Japanese to be awarded the title of Meillieur Sommelier du Monde, and helped to significantly raise public awareness of wine appreciation. Media attention given to the beneficial effects of polyphenol (tannins) and local government led efforts to promote high quality domestically produced wine also contributed to industry expansion. From 2002 onward, leading with Yamanashi Prefecture, competitions focused on "Japanese wine using only 100% Japanese grapes" began.
  Successful ratification of the TPP trade agreement will likely bring significant changes to domestic Japanese wine production.  Once ratified, tariffs on imported wine are scheduled to be eliminated in eight years. New competition from large scale overseas wine producers, particularly from the United States, Australia and New Zealand will be balanced with a staged reduction in taxes levied on locally produced wines. Differing tariff regimes levied against the import of grapes for table consumption and wine production have often led Japanese farmers to focus on high margin table grapes at the expense of domestic wine production.
caption: Advertising poster of "AKADAMA Port Wine”, the first published in 1922
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