The Rise of Japanese Wine

Green vines with cloudy sky above

There is more talk about Japanese wine than there has ever been, and, after a week in Yamanashi and Nagano, the countrys two leading wine regions, the reasons why are clear. Japanese winemakers, many of whom gained experience abroad, appear to have found several convincing ways to express the country’s two signature grapes, Koshu and Muscat Bailey A, while also offering original interpretations of international varieties. A distinctly Japanese through line connects them all—one that, as it happens, aligns closely with what contemporary wine drinkers are seeking.

Building a Wine Industry in a Monsoon Climate

Between 2015 and 2024, the number of wineries in Japan rose from 280 to 519—close to a doubling in under a decade. Annual wine consumption, however, remains low. Although Japan’s total consumption rebounded by 6.8% in 2025, after two years of decline, annual per-capita consumption was only about three liters among those aged 15 and over—far below levels in the United States and major European wine markets. Yet Japan ranked fifth worldwide for wine imports by value that year. New producers, meanwhile, continue to emerge across nearly every prefecture. And the movement is not exclusively Japanese. The Burgundian winemaker Étienne de Montille, for example, recently launched his own project in Hokkaido, following earlier ventures by the American-born wine producers Bruce Gutlove and Ernest Singer, who established 10R Winery, in Hokkaido, and Fujisan Winery, in Shizuoka, respectively.

There is clear momentum behind Japans wine industry. That is even more remarkable given how challenging the country is for viticulture. Climatic conditions vary dramatically across an archipelago stretching nearly 19 degrees of latitude, from subtropical Okinawa to subarctic Hokkaido. Yet one defining characteristic unites most of the regions: abundant rainfall. In Japan’s monsoon climate, the rainy season is in June, followed by typhoons in September and October, bringing significant precipitation throughout the growing season. The result is elevated disease pressure and vigorous canopy growth. Summer temperatures in many prefectures also regularly exceed 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), reducing grape acidity and, in some cases, delaying ripening and limiting anthocyanin accumulation in red varieties.

These conditions may partly explain why winemaking arrived relatively late in Japan. The countrys wine history spans about 150 years. Over that time, growers have developed an extensive tool kit for protecting grapes from rain, including planting disease-resistant varieties, favoring well-ventilated hillside sites, training vines on pergolas to moderate vigor while improving airflow, attaching small waterproof paper caps to individual clusters, and covering the fruiting zone with plastic film.

Today, Japan has approximately 17,300 hectares (42,700 acres) of vineyards, most of it devoted to table grapes. Estimates often put the area used for winemaking at around 2,000 hectares (4,940 acres), but there is no precise nationwide figure, since official statistics do not provide a comprehensive wine-only acreage, and many varieties are used for both the table-grape and wine markets. What is known, however, is that in 2024 Japan produced 126,820 hectoliters of wine, or roughly 16.9 million standard bottles, from domestically grown grapes.

The industry is concentrated in a handful of regions. Yamanashi, Nagano, and Hokkaido are home to 85, 81, and 69 wineries, respectively—nearly half of Japan’s total. Yamanashi, immediately west of Tokyo, is where modern Japanese winemaking began and remains its traditional center. Vineyards are clustered around the sheltered Kofu Basin, where Japan’s signature varieties, Koshu and Muscat Bailey A, dominate. Farther into the mountainous interior, Nagano offers higher elevations, somewhat lower rainfall, and a stronger emphasis on international varieties, particularly Merlot and Chardonnay.

Hokkaido presents almost the opposite set of conditions. Japan’s northernmost island is markedly cooler and less exposed to tropical cyclones, making it increasingly attractive for cool-climate viticulture even as growers must contend with harsh winters. Wine production is concentrated principally in Shiribeshi, around Yoichi and Niki, and in Sorachi. Alongside cold-hardy varieties, such as Kerner and Zweigelt, plantings of Pinot Noir are expanding as producers explore its potential in Hokkaido.

Japan’s appellation system is also a relatively recent development. Yamanashi became the country’s first geographical indication in 2013. Hokkaido followed in 2018, and Nagano, Osaka, and Yamagata in 2021.

The industry is still assembling itself, as producers explore how best to interpret different grape varieties. What follows is a snapshot of where it stands in 2026, based on conversations and tastings in Yamanashi and Nagano.

What Makes Japanese Wine Japanese

Before setting out to visit wineries, I met with Kenichi Ohashi, Japans lone resident Master of Wine, in Tokyo. The question I most wanted to ask was whether Japanese wine today possesses a defining quality that makes it unmistakably Japanese.

Ohashi said, “In March 2026, I brought 30 Masters of Wine to Japan. After visiting the wineries, most of them told me that the real strength of Japanese wine is its ability to achieve full ripeness at relatively low alcohol levels. You might have a Cabernet Sauvignon at 12% to 12.5% ABV, for example, yet it is fully ripe. It is not like Cabernet from Napa Valley. It is slightly lighter and softer, with a more focused palate and delicate aromas rather than jammy fruit. There may be a subtle methoxypyrazine note, but it becomes one element of the wines complexity.”

As a result, Japanese winemakers rarely need to rely on reverse osmosis or other techniques to reduce alcohol levels. Ohashi noted, In the context of global warming, that has become one of our greatest strengths.”

Remarkably, this style of wine also aligns well with the physiology of many Japanese consumers. Compared with, for example, Chinese or Korean populations, the Japanese are far more likely to carry genetic variants associated with reduced activity of the enzymes responsible for metabolizing alcohol. As a result, high-alcohol wines can be physically uncomfortable for many Japanese. Ohashi explained, “Thirty years ago, the most popular imported wines in Japan were German Kabinett wines at just 7% to 8% alcohol. Thats a very comfortable style for us. Even today, most Japanese wines are only around 10% to 11% ABV.”

His assessment was broadly confirmed over a week of visiting wineries and tasting more than 100 wines. Alongside the wines’ lightness, freshness, and fully developed fruit, another defining characteristic emerged: even familiar international varieties often take on profiles quite unlike those typically associated with them. As for Japans two signature indigenous grapes, they produce wines with few, if any, true equivalents.

Yamanashi Prefecture remains the undisputed leader in both production and recognition, followed by neighboring Nagano. Both are in central Japan, just a couple of hours by car from Tokyo. They are also the regions whose wines are most likely to make it to export markets.

Yamanashi: Where Japanese Wine Began

Located roughly 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Tokyo, Yamanashi Prefecture is the center of Japanese wine, home to around 90 wineries. It is a postcard-perfect wine region, with immaculately kept vineyards on traditional pergolas hung with clusters the color of cherry blossom, and the outline of Mount Fuji in the distance.

The regions principal winegrowing area is the Kofu Basin, an east-west river valley enclosed by mountains. Vineyards are planted on the surrounding slopes at elevations of roughly 300 to 550 meters (985 to 1,805 feet), on fertile alluvial soils formed by river deposits. Well-drained sandy sites alternate with more water-retentive clay soils, while volcanic soils and soils derived from weathered granite are found elsewhere in the prefecture.

The surrounding mountains help maintain a substantial diurnal range while shielding the vineyards from humid air masses. Combined with a long growing season and abundant sunshine—Yamanashi is among the sunniest parts of Japan, averaging about 2,200 hours of sunshine annually—these conditions allow grapes to achieve full physiological ripeness.

Koshu is by far Yamanashis most important grape variety, accounting for 67% of the regions wine-grape plantings. It was cultivated for centuries as a table grape, particularly around Katsunuma, before gradually being displaced by newer, more attractive varieties. DNA analysis has shown that approximately 71% of Koshus genome is derived from Vitis vinifera, with the remainder most likely a result of hybridization with a wild East Asian Vitis species. Its precise origins, however, remain unknown.

The regions second most important variety is the dark-skinned Muscat Bailey A, a hybrid of Bailey and Muscat of Hamburg, developed in the 1920s by Zenbei Kawakami. It accounts for another 28% of Yamanashis wine-grape production.

Both varieties produce large berries and are fairly resistant to fungal diseases. Even so, Yamanashi receives enough rainfall to require additional protective measures. Vineyards are often oriented to take advantage of prevailing winds, improving airflow through the canopy. Both grapes are grown primarily on the traditional pergola system, which is well suited to vigorous, high-yielding vines. It accommodates a large canopy, keeps clusters farther from the damp ground, and promotes better air circulation. A handful of growers, however, have begun experimenting with vertical shoot positioning (VSP) for Koshu.

Yamanashis fertile soils encourage relatively shallow root systems. This, combined with heavy rainfall, increases the risk of waterlogging and root asphyxia, making permanent cover crops between the rows a common viticultural practice. At a broader level, viticulture in rainy Yamanashi is largely conventional, though there is a noticeable shift toward more sustainable farming, with some producers embracing organic practices.

Climate change has left its mark on the region. On one hand, it has made it easier for Koshu to achieve adequate sugar ripeness. Yuki Hirayama, the founder and winemaker of 98WINEs, explained, The grapes now reach 11% to 12% potential alcohol, whereas just five years ago they were only at 8% to 9%.” On the other hand, ripening has accelerated dramatically. As Takahiko Nozawa, the winemaker at Kurambon Wine, noted, Koshu was typically harvested in October two decades ago; today, picking often begins by mid-September.

As temperatures continue to rise, the window between achieving sufficient sugar ripeness and losing acidity is becoming increasingly narrow. Producers must shift their focus from ripening fruit to preserving freshness and balance. That helps explain the growing interest in higher-elevation vineyards. Hirayama deliberately established his vineyards in the high-altitude Enzan area, at elevations reaching 850 meters (2,790 feet), while Château Mercian planted its Tengusawa Vineyard in 2017 on a gentle south-facing slope at around 800 meters (2,625 feet).

Interpreting Koshu

Katsunuma, in the city of Koshu, is Japans largest winegrowing cluster, home to about 40 of Yamanashis wineries. It was here, in 1877, that the countrys first privately owned winery was established, marking the beginning of Japans modern wine industry.

Most wineries are small, family-run estates, though several large wineries owned by major Japanese corporations also operate here. Despite their differences in scale, nearly all rely heavily on grapes purchased from contract growers, relationships that in many cases have been maintained across generations.

Stylistic differences tend to reflect each winerys philosophy more than distinctions between individual subregions, underscoring how Yamanashis producers are still working out which approaches best express Koshu—and, by extension, what constitutes a distinctly Japanese wine. Yet a common direction seems to be emerging. Since the 1980s, Koshu has largely been associated with weightless, delicate wines. Today, many producers are moving toward more structured and layered expressions. Because Koshu naturally reaches only about 11% to 12% ABV, each winery has developed its own way of building palate weight.

Another shared ambition is to preserve the varietys pure primary fruit character—featuring citrus and stone-fruit aromas—while integrating gentle phenolic bitterness derived from Koshus thick, pink-skinned berries. Preserving varietal purity is a central goal of producers such as Château Mercian and Manns Wines. Their Koshu wines are typically fermented and briefly aged in neutral stainless-steel tanks, resulting in bright, citrus-driven wines with hints of white flowers, lively acidity, and a refreshing phenolic bitterness.

Ayana Misawa, the head viticulturalist and winemaker at Grace Wine, pursues the same goal of preserving Koshus primary character, arguably with greater success than anyone else. She explained, In the 2010s, many Japanese winemakers believed Koshu had to reach 13% alcohol. But after working with Sémillon in Australia, I came to a different conclusion. If Sémillon can age beautifully for many years at just 10% or 11% ABV, then there is no reason to push Koshu toward higher alcohol.”

For her two flagship wines, Misawa gently whole-cluster presses the fruit in a pneumatic press, ferments it at 17 to 19 degrees Celsius (63 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit), then racks the wine off its lees before aging it in stainless steel for six months. She credits the late Denis Dubourdieu, her professor at the University of Bordeaux, as the inspiration behind this restrained style. Both Grace Koshu and Koshu Kayagatake express delicate classic Koshu aromas combined with vibrant acidity and a phenolic grip. They were among the finest entry-level wines I tasted during my trip.

The aforementioned producers generally seek to avoid creaminess in their wines. Their Koshu wines typically do not undergo malolactic fermentation, and lees contact is deliberately limited. Others, however, use ambient fermentation and extended lees aging to build texture, with spontaneous malolactic fermentation also more likely in the relatively high-pH Koshu.

At Kurambon Wine, Nozawa uses bâtonnage during fermentation and short lees aging, while Hirayama, at 98WINEs, leaves his wines on their lees undisturbed for six to eight months. These methods produce a broader, creamier, more textural expression of Koshu. At both Kurambon and 98WINEs, that added texture is balanced by bright acidity and phenolic grip, while the wines remain notably light bodied. At 98WINEs, they are around 11% ABV. Hirayama is among the few producers in the region who do not chaptalize.

Searching for Koshu’s Finest Terroirs

For grapes from their best vineyards, where Koshu ripens more fully and produces smaller, more concentrated berries, many producers introduce a measured use of oak.

At Katsunuma Jyozo, the single-vineyard Issehara and Toriibira cuvées are fermented in stainless steel before a portion is transferred to barrels and larger casks, with new oak kept below 50%. The two sites produce different expressions. Issehara is riper and more concentrated, while Toriibira is more restrained and citrus driven. In both, oak adds texture without obscuring Koshu’s freshness and phenolic character.

Misawa takes a similarly restrained approach with Grace Wine’s single-vineyard Toriibira and Misawa wines. Fermentation and aging in older barriques add depth while preserving the fruit purity and finesse that define her style.

The vineyards mentioned above have not yet been officially classified. For now, local producers are focused on securing formal recognition of Katsunuma GI, which they hope to finalize soon. Even so, the regions terroir movement is advancing rapidly.

At Katsunuma Jyozo, particular attention is given to Issehara, a riverside vineyard of sandy soils at 330 meters (1,080 feet) above sea level. Sho Aruga, Katsunuma Jyozo’s vineyard manager, explained, For Koshu, sand is the ideal terroir. Well-drained sandy soils produce more aromatic and expressive wines. The vines root more deeply, the fruit ripens more completely, and the berries remain smaller.”

Sandy soils also define Iwade, the vineyard that Château Mercian considers its flagship cru for Koshu. It lies on the terraced right bank of the Fuefuki River, in the northeastern part of the Kofu Basin, near the city of Yamanashi.

Misawa, one of the pioneers of the regions site-specific vineyard movement, takes the opposite view: she is not particularly fond of Koshu grown on sandy soils. She said, Severe water stress produces simpler, less complex wines. I prefer more clay-rich soils.” Her Misawa Vineyard, located in Akeno at 700 meters (2,300 feet) above sea level, is planted to VSP-trained Koshu on clay-rich volcanic ash soils. The fruit is harvested by hand and vinified separately by individual parcels and, in some cases, even by individual vines.

These are, of course, individual perspectives. Yet there is one vineyard that commands almost universal agreement. Nearly every producer I spoke with described Toriibira as the finest site for Koshu. Its name derives from torii, the traditional gates marking the entrance to a Shinto shrine. The vineyard occupies a steep, roughly 45% southeast-facing slope at 450 meters (1,475 feet) above sea level and is visible from much of Katsunuma. Its soils are predominantly clay mixed with gravel.

Nozawa explained, Its southeastern exposure provides more sunlight, drainage is excellent, and the berries stay smaller.” Aruga added, After about 4pm, cool air begins flowing down from the surrounding mountains. You feel it especially at Toriibira. It is a truly special place—effectively our grand cru.”

Misawa noted that Koshu grapes from Toriibira command the highest prices in the region, at around €4 per kilogram. The vineyard also carries deep symbolic significance. Every October, local schoolchildren gather there to celebrate the harvest, and, after sunset, lights are illuminated across the hillside to form the silhouette of a torii gate.

The Many Faces of Koshu

A tasting in Yamanashi will almost certainly begin with sparkling Koshu. The regions sparkling wine movement dates to the 2000s, with pioneers including Katsunuma Jyozo and Lumière. Today, nearly every medium-sized and large winery includes a sparkling Koshu in its portfolio, made by either the Charmat method or the traditional method, the latter yielding the most impressive results.

Misawa explained, “We usually harvest Koshu in October, but sparkling wine requires an earlier harvest. The problem is that Koshu is naturally a late-ripening variety. If you pick it early enough for sparkling wine, the fruit lacks concentration and starts to show herbal notes.” With careful harvesting and the traditional method, however, the results become far more compelling. Lees aging adds another dimension of complexity to Koshus naturally restrained character.

Takeshi Ubukata, the winemaker at Lumière, said, Still Koshu generally isnt a wine for long aging, but traditional method sparkling Koshu is fascinating to watch evolve.”

Lumières sparkling Koshu, aged 19 months on the lees, combines delicate creamy aromas with juicy stone fruit, vibrant acidity, and a finely integrated mousse. It was the most compelling sparkling Koshu I tasted during my trip.

Misawa has a somewhat different approach. After experimenting with a 100% Koshu traditional method sparkling wine, she concluded that the variety alone lacked the structure and depth she sought. She found Koshu more compelling as a blending component, contributing freshness, purity, and mineral character alongside Chardonnay in Grace Wine’s Serena Extra Brut.

Producers have also embraced orange wine. Koshus pink skins are naturally rich in anthocyanins, so just two or three days of skin contact are enough to achieve a deep amber hue. Lumière’s Hikari Koshu, for example, is made using partial skin fermentation and extended barrel aging to create a more oxidative and savory expression.

Lumière also uses Koshu to produce a traditional method sparkling orange wine, a style that is a rarity even beyond Japan. Skin contact, bottle fermentation, and lees aging give the wine greater structure and tannin, showing how far producers are pushing the stylistic boundaries of the variety.

Japan’s Signature Red

Red wines based on Muscat Bailey A are likewise distinctive. Bursting with strawberry aromas accented by rose petal, they are light, juicy, and drinkable, with soft tannins and alcohol around 11% ABV. In many ways, they are ideal reds for a new era. They also struck me as noticeably more consistent than Koshu. Encounters with Muscat Bailey A rarely disappointed.

Most producers ferment and macerate the variety in stainless steel before aging it in oak, but the stylistic range is broad. At Kurambon Wine, French-barrel aging gives the wine additional structure while preserving Muscat Bailey A’s bright fruit and supple tannins. At 98WINEs, a more low-intervention approach brings subtle fermentative character alongside the variety’s naturally exuberant red-fruit quality.

Other producers pursue a more oak-driven style. Château Mercian Hosaka and Manns Wines Solaris show how Muscat Bailey A can support greater richness and more pronounced spice from barrel aging without losing its essential juiciness.

Lumière, by contrast, takes a deliberately neutral approach. Its Muscat Bailey A Ishigura is fermented in an underground granite vat built in 1901, whose partially buried construction once helped regulate temperature naturally. The vessel, designated a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 1998, allows the variety’s bright fruit and soft tannins to remain at the forefront.

Nagano: A Japanese Take on International Varieties

From Yamanashi, I headed two hours north by car to Nagano, where I spent a day exploring Japans second largest wine region by production. The prefecture is also one of the countrys best-known ski destinations and hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics.

The vineyards here are surrounded by the Japanese Alps. Roughly 80% are planted above 500 meters (1,640 feet), with some sites reaching elevations of 1,000 meters (3,280 feet). At these higher elevations, the growing season is shorter and cooler, yet abundant sunshine and sufficiently warm days allow the grapes to ripen fully, while cold nights help preserve acidity. A relatively dry climate by Japanese standards, with slightly less rainfall than the neighboring Yamanashi, and well-drained soils provide favorable conditions for European grape varieties, which form the backbone of the regions wine industry.

Compared with Yamanashi, with its focus on Koshu and Muscat Bailey A, Nagano is much more diverse, with each producer assembling its own varietal mix. There is some consolidation around Chardonnay and Merlot, which together account for more than a quarter of all vineyard plantings, but otherwise each estate follows its own path. Much of this diversity reflects the regions youth. Producers are still experimenting, searching for the combinations of grape and place that perform best. The soils are also varied, including dense clays, gravelly alluvial deposits, and volcanic ash-derived soils.

The region is divided into five distinct valleys. Roughly half of Naganos wineries are concentrated in the Chikumagawa Valley, which spans several municipalities. One of them, Tomi, has been home since 2015 to the Chikumagawa Wine Academy, a training center preparing the next generation of winemakers. Ohashi describes Nagano as Japans fastest-growing and most dynamic wine region, where new, small-scale wineries continue to emerge. Part of the reason is simply that land suitable for new vineyards is far more readily available here than in Yamanashi.

I visited three wineries in the Chikumagawa Valley. Two of them—Manns Wines Komoro and Château Mercian Mariko—are of comparable size, producing roughly 60,000 to 100,000 bottles annually. The third, Terre de Ciel, is a boutique estate making just 12,000 bottles a year. According to Ohashi, this kind of small, quality-focused producer is becoming increasingly common across the region.

Manns Wines Komoro appears to have found a particularly successful match in Cabernet Sauvignon, grown on gravelly sandy soils in the Higashiyama district of Ueda, on south-facing slopes at around 550 meters (1,800 feet). Both the single-variety Solaris Higashiyama Cabernet Sauvignon and the Cabernet-dominant Solaris Magnifica, each aged for 20 months in barriques, retained remarkably vivid varietal character.

At Château Mercian Mariko, the Merlot-dominant blend Omnis illustrates another direction for the region’s Bordeaux varieties. Grapes for the wine are grown in the clay-rich Jimba Plateau, and the wine is aged for 19 months in oak before an intentionally delayed release. The current 2019 showed concentrated dark fruit and substantial tertiary development, with the wine seemingly at its peak when I tasted it.

The wines that impressed me most, however, came from Terre de Ciel. The estate is a tiny, organically farmed winery with a minimal-intervention approach. The winemaker Kazuto Kuwabara lives on the property with his family. Before founding Terre de Ciel, he worked at Coco Farm, in Tochigi Prefecture, the winery that helped launch Japans modern quality-wine movement. An entire generation of todays leading winemakers trained there, including Takahiko Soga, the founder of Domaine Takahiko, Japan’s most famous winery.

Terre de Ciel’s vineyards are in the Nukaji district, north of Komoro, on clay-rich volcanic soils at elevations of 850 to 950 meters (2,790 to 3,120 feet). Here, explained Kuwabara, “the altitude helps the wines retain tension even in hot vintages.”

He works with a broad range of grapes, including Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Syrah. Yet across the lineup, the wines share a striking stylistic coherence: concentrated but light fruit, pronounced freshness, savory depth, and a phenolic texture that gives them shape without heaviness. More importantly, they bear little resemblance to the styles commonly associated with these varieties elsewhere in the world.

The Road Ahead

At their best, Japanese wines are defined by freshness, relatively modest alcohol, and flavor profiles unlike those found anywhere else. Koshu, the countrys flagship grape by both plantings and recognition, also happens to be one of the worlds most seafood-friendly wine varieties. Ohashi explained that Koshu wines consistently contain low levels of iron, whose ions can trigger unpleasant fishy flavors when wine is paired with seafood. That helps explain why Koshu works so well with raw fish, shellfish, caviar, and even more challenging ingredients, such as fugu and monkfish liver.

Muscat Bailey A, with its gentle tannins, is an equally natural partner for tuna, one of the cornerstones of Japanese cuisine. And this article has barely touched on the wines of Hokkaido, where a new generation of producers is crafting impressive Pinot Noirs. In that sense, Japanese wines seem destined to become sommelier favorites—at the very least in Japanese restaurants around the world.

That said, several obstacles still stand in the way of broader international success. The first is scale. Most Japanese wineries are very small, and many have limited distribution even within Japan.

Ohashi said, “In the United States, the average grower farms around 40 hectares of vineyards. In Australia, its about 20 hectares; in Chile, around 12. In Japan, its less than 0.1 hectare[s]. We simply dont have the scale. As a result, our wines are inevitably much more expensive than those of most other wine-producing countries. That is a very serious barrier to growth.”

The challenge is compounded by Japans longstanding distribution system. Historically, Japanese wine has been produced for the domestic market, and wholesale prices already incorporate the margins of several intermediaries. Once an importer is added to the chain, the final retail price can quickly become too high to compete internationally.

Ohashi believes a new pricing model is necessary for the industry’s continued growth. He also noted, “At the same time, we need to enter competitions, win awards, and demonstrate to consumers that Japanese wine is genuinely world-class.”

Among the wineries I visited, some had no export business at all, others had only recently begun exporting, and, for many, overseas sales accounted for roughly 1% of production. Grace Wine was the clear exception. Having long focused on export markets, the estate shipped 40% of its production abroad in 2025, with the United Kingdom as its largest export market, according to Misawa.

Still, there was a palpable sense that producers across the board were eager to expand internationally, and the overall trajectory is encouraging. According to Japans National Tax Agency, exports of Japanese wine to the United States increased by 164% year over year in 2024, rising from 11,000 to 29,000 liters, or roughly 1,220 to 3,220 nine-liter cases.

Japanese wine is evolving at remarkable speed, and it has something distinctive to offer the global wine community. There is every reason to believe that, with each passing year, it will find more ambassadors around the world.

You Might Also Like

Bibliography

International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). State of the World Wine Sector in 2025. May 2026. https://www.oiv.int/sites/default/files/2026-05/OIV-State_of_the_World_Wine_Sector_in_2025_0.pdf.

Japan National Tax Agency. “Fruit Wine Production Overview (FY 2015).” 2016. https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/sake/shiori-gaikyo/seizogaikyo/kajitsu/kajitsuh27.htm.

Japan National Tax Agency. “Production and Sales of Alcoholic Beverages (FY 2024).” 2025. https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/sake/shiori-gaikyo/seizo_oroshiuri/r07/index.htm.

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. Statistics on Fruit Production (2025). 2025. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/tokei/kouhyou/sakumotu/sakkyou_kazyu/pdf/syukaku_ninasi_25.pdf.

Robinson, Jancis, and Julia Harding, eds. “Japan.” In The Oxford Companion to Wine. 5th ed. Oxford University Press, 2023.

Parents Comment Children
No Data