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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. The main region for winemaking in Japan is in Yamanashi Prefecture which accounts for 40% of domestic production,〔Yamanashi Prefecture Government (Local products )〕 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== 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 , combining the Portuguese word ''tinto'' (''chinta'' in Japanese) meaning ''red'' and meaning ''liquor''.〔 However, the enthusiastic adoption of Western culture during the Meiji restoration in the late 1860s had to take place before regular production of local wine started.1 The first attempt to produce wine locally was undertaken in Yamanashi, in 1875.〔 During the first period, cultivation of American grape varieties formed the core of Japanese wine grapes, however they experienced a setback with a Phylloxera epidemic. Afterwards the demand for domestic Japanese wine decreased, but in every region a few viniculturists remained. It was not until after World War II that the scale of winemaking began to grow. However, in comparison to imported juices and bulk wine, domestic Japanese wine is still 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 wine was the mainstay. To consumers of the time wine was recognized only by types like Kotobukiya's (Suntory) . This trend continued until the 1970s when wine was still fundamentally known as , and a small minority imported European wine.3 During the 1970s and 80s the skill level of wine making increased and the intake of wine grapes spread. This was due to the hard work of specialists, and came with the beginning of calling their holdings "wineries", and the emulation of Western hedging styles and development of specially cultivated insect resistant grape varieties from European strains. Numerous wineries produced superior wines using only pure domestic cultivation, and began to receive good reviews internationally. Also, in response to the specific tastes of Japanese consumers, the production of organic wines also grew. After this, moderation of taxes on imported wines, a diversification of Japanese food culture, and growing awareness of the beneficial effects of polyphenol (tannins), an understanding of real wine in recent years has come about, also a groundwork has been laid out by the promotion of high quality domestically produced wines. From 2002 onward, leading with Yamanashi Prefecture, a competition focused on "Japanese wine using only 100% Japanese grapes" began. It is open to anyone from individual makers (vigneron), to large producers competing with only the best quality domestic wines. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Japanese wine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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