By Yuri Yuhara
Japan has many places recognized as World
Heritage Site by Unesco, being the most famous one, Mt. Fuji, located here in
Yamanashi Prefecture. But, from a different perspective, the Japanese Agency
for Cultural Affairs aims not only to preserve well-known landmarks registering
them as Word Heritages, but also to recognize and promote stories of areas with
unique traditions and customs, as well as the cultural properties related to
them, that are passed on for generations as Japan Heritages.
Yamanashi has a unique grape and wine
culture. The history of this fruit cultivation in the region started more than
a thousand of years ago and thanks to its climate, today, Yamanashi is the
biggest grape producer in the entire country, being some kinds of grapes
considered luxury products and sold at high-end shops in all over Japan and
abroad. The wine production history also dates back to centuries ago, and
nowadays about 80 wineries (more than one third of all wineries in Japan) are
located in Yamanashi Prefecture, mostly in Koshu, Fuefuki and Yamanashi city
region.
And 23 spots in these three cities were
registered as part of Yamanashi´s first Japan Heritage. But to understand the
meaning and importance of these places it is necessary to know their history
and listen to the stories about them. With this in mind, we joined a guided
tour promoted by the Kyoto Wine Resort Association, and listened about the
fascinating story of the grape cultivation and wine production in the Japanese
Wine Country.
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| Katsunuma Budokyo Station |
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| Budo no Kuni Bunkakan |
There are many legends that tell the story
about the grape cultivation in Katsunuma, starting in the Nara Period (AD
710-794). Until the cultivation got spread in the late Edo Period (AD 1603-1868),
grapes were mainly produced in temples to be used as medicine. But in the Edo
Period, with the development of the Koshu Kaido, the road that connects Nagano
to Tokyo, passing through Yamanashi, grapes started being taken to Edo (Tokyo)
to be offered to the military government and also commercialized in the local
markets. The demand for grapes started to grow and by the beginning of Meiji
Period (AD 1868-1912) not only table grapes but also wine production expanded significantly
in the area. Meiji Period is known by being the time when Japan started
adopting innovations and habits from the West, but the history of wine
production in Yamanashi cannot be simply considered as a western inspired innovation,
as we could learn from this tour. We can say that the development of Katsunuma
in the Meiji Period is connected to the grape culture that already existed, and
the wine production, despite of being greatly improved by the implementation of
western techniques, inherited deeply rooted traditions from this area.
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| 1.8l wine bottle |
In fact, at first, wine started being
produced by the same techniques used to make Japanese sake (what, of course,
did not worked as expected). As one of the unique traditions related to the
beginning of wine production in Japan that survived until the current days, we
can find 1.8 l size wine bottles being sold in Yamanashi wineries, the same
bottles used to sell Japanese sake. Wine also has been used in temples and
shrines in this area instead of the traditional rice made alcohol, and many
households in Katsunuma keep stored wine to serve to their visitors, as a
gesture of omotenashi, the Japanese
hospitality.
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| Ryuken Cellar |
While listening to the explanation, we visited
other points of the tour: the Ryuken Cellar (one of the first cellars built
using western style bricks), vineyards, grape fridges (buildings used to store
grapes, using only natural methods to keep the temperature low), the oldest
grape vine in the country and others.
After a lunch break, we visited Katsunuma Dam, an important construction from Taisho Period (AD 1912-1926) that had a great impact on the drainage system of the surrounding vineyards, and headed to Daizenji,
one of the oldest temples in Yamanashi. Due to its long history of grape making,
Daizenji is also called the Temple of Grapes, housing a centenary wood statue
of a Yakushi Nyorai (a Buddha with medicinal powers) holding the fruit, and
many other grape themed items used in religious ceremonies, as it was believed
that grapes have medicinal effects.
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| Katsunuma Dam |
From there, while appreciating the
beautiful scenery of vineyards, we passed through the site where traditionally,
after the end of the grape harvest, during the Grape Festival, in October,
bonfires are lit in the shape of the Japanese portal, Torii. From there, we
walked by temples and historic streets, the stage of stories preserved by the
locals until the present, and finally arrived to our last destination, Haramo
Wine.
Finishing the tour sipping a couple of different Yamanashi wines couldn’t be better. After all, it was thanks to all the stories we heard through the day that Yamanashi became the Japanese Wine Country, and preserving this stories also means to preserve this unique culture and taste.
How to get to Katsunuma: Take the JR Chuo line from Shinjuku bound for Kofu until Katsunuma Budokyo Station (about 90 min by train)
More information about this tour in:
Yamanashi Wine Resort home page
https://wineresort.jp/
Tabizen Tours
http://tabizen.jp/
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