Yamanashi
山梨
Birthplace of Japanese wine, home of the Koshu grape
Yamanashi is the birthplace of the Japanese wine industry and the country's largest and most important wine region. Set in a mountain-ringed basin west of Tokyo, it enjoys long sunshine hours, low rainfall, and wide diurnal temperature swings — ideal conditions for viticulture. The region is world-renowned for the indigenous Koshu grape, which yields elegant, crisp white wines, while Muscat Bailey A produces distinctive reds. Historic districts such as Katsunuma and estates like Suntory Tomi no Oka Winery in Kai City anchor a landscape of more than 90 wineries, from century-old houses to innovative boutique producers, keeping Yamanashi at the forefront of Japanese wine quality.
Best for: Wine lovers seeking Japan's indigenous varieties and the historic heart of Japanese winemaking
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Producers
アルプスワイン株式会社
Alps Wine Co., Ltd.
Alps Wine Co., Ltd. is a family-run winery in Fuefuki, Yamanashi Prefecture, founded in 1962 when Fukuhei Maejima took over Miyoshizaki Brewery, a community winery once run by local grape farmers in the Kitsune-Arai district. Now led by third-generation president Ryo Maejima together with his three children handling sales, winemaking, and distribution, the winery lives by the motto 'a first-class product, even from a small company.' Its winemaking philosophy centers on simplicity and cleanliness—rigorous equipment sanitation, careful raw-material and yeast selection, and precise temperature control during aging—to produce clear, clean wines built to age gracefully. In 2021, to mark its 60th anniversary, the winery launched the Fox Village label, named after Kitsune-Arai ('fox's new home'), the historic place name of its home district.
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www.alpswine.co.jp/金井醸造場
Caney Wine
Caney Wine, run by the Kanai family in the Manriki district of Yamanashi City, Yamanashi Prefecture, has been growing grapes and making wine since its founding in 1962. The winery is operated almost entirely by a husband-and-wife team, who handle everything from viticulture to fermentation and sales themselves. Around 60% of their roughly 0.6-hectare self-managed vineyard is farmed organically, and the couple continues to research low-pesticide and biodynamic methods. They grow Japanese native varieties Koshu and Delaware alongside European varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay, releasing wines under the Caney Wine and Vino da Manriki labels. Production is extremely small and sells out quickly, giving the winery a cult following among fans of Japan's natural wine movement.
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caney.fruits.jp/ドメーヌヒデ
Domaine Hide
Domaine Hide is a boutique winery in Ogasawara, Minami-Alps City, Yamanashi Prefecture (postal code 400-0306), founded in 2015 by winemaker Hideo Shibuya. Before turning to wine at age 50, Shibuya held an unusually varied career, including running an airfield on a remote Okinawan island, working as a professional diving instructor, and training as a clinical psychologist. His winery centers on Muscat Bailey A, drawn to the grape for the striking pink hue of its juice, alongside the local hybrid Yama Sauvignon and Koshu. Grapes are foot-crushed whole-cluster in the traditional style and fermented with wild yeast, with harvest and cellar work loosely following the lunar and tidal cycle. A signature technique borrowed from Amarone involves sun-drying grapes for about three months to make a concentrated 'Hoshi Wine' (dried-grape wine), whose lees are sometimes used to re-ferment other cuvées. Each wine is produced in tiny quantities of roughly 200 to 500 bottles per vintage, and the winery does not sell directly or by mail order, making its wines notoriously hard to find.
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www.domainehide.com/ドメーヌ茅ヶ岳
Domaine Kayagatake
Domaine Kayagatake is a small, family-run boutique winery located in Uenoyama, Nirasaki City, Yamanashi Prefecture, at the southern foot of Mt. Kayagatake. It was founded by Masahiko Abe, who took over his family's grape farm — originally growing table grapes (Kyoho, Pione) alongside Muscat Bailey A and Koshu for wine — and, after completing graduate studies in wine science at the University of Yamanashi's Institute of Enology and Viticulture, released his first vintage in 2015. The winery is run together with his wife and focuses exclusively on estate-grown Koshu and Muscat Bailey A, harvesting the Muscat Bailey A in October to maximize furaneol, the strawberry-like aromatic compound the variety is known for. Its flagship wines, released under the 'Adagio di Uenoyama' label, are a dry Koshu white and a medium-bodied Muscat Bailey A red, both reflecting the long sunshine hours and well-drained soil of the Nirasaki terroir at the southern base of Mt. Kayagatake, near the boundary with Hokuto City.
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d-kayagatake.com/ドメーヌQ
Domaine Q
Located at 47 Sakurai-cho in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, Domaine Q (also known as "Dom. Q" or "Domaine Kyu") is operated by Kofu Wine Port Co., Ltd. and was established in 2000, taking its name from a character in founder Kubodera's surname. Renowned as one of Japan's smallest, most consolidated wineries, it is also home to one of the country's largest estate-owned Pinot Noir vineyards -- a variety notoriously difficult to grow in Japan's humid climate. The roughly 25,000 square meter south-facing estate vineyard sits on well-draining, stony granite soil on slopes overlooking the Kofu Basin, benefiting from strong sun exposure and cooling winds off the Southern Alps. Beyond Pinot Noir, the winery crafts wine from Koshu, Muscat Bailey A, Neo Muscat, and early-harvest green Delaware grapes, and operates an on-site steakhouse restaurant, "Bordeaux."
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www.kofuwineport.jp/マルス山梨ワイナリー
Mars Yamanashi Winery
Mars Yamanashi Winery is operated by Hombo Shuzo, a Kagoshima-based beverage producer with roots dating back to 1872. Established in 1960 in Isawa, Fuefuki City — in the heart of the Kofu Basin, Yamanashi Prefecture — the winery serves as Hombo Shuzo's core hub for winemaking, aging, and bottling. Grapes are sourced through contracts with local growers across Yamanashi as well as from the winery's own Hinoshiro Farm vineyard. Signature bottlings include crisp, food-friendly whites made from the indigenous Koshu grape alongside international varieties such as Chardonnay and Merlot. The winery has been recognized repeatedly at Japan's national Japan Wine Competition, including a gold medal in 2023.
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www.hombo.co.jp/visiting/yamanashi/モンデ酒造株式会社
Monde Shuzo
Founded in May 1952 as Toho Shuzo in Isawa Town (now Isawa-cho, Fuefuki City), Yamanashi Prefecture, Monde Shuzo is a long-established winery in the heart of the Kofu Basin, one of Japan's most celebrated wine-growing areas. The company took its present name in 1972 in honor of the Monde Selection (Brussels), where its products won gold and silver awards. Alongside wines made from Koshu and Muscat Bailey A grapes, Monde Shuzo is best known in Japan as a pioneer of canned wine: in 2008 it began producing canned wine fitted with a screw-cap-style resealable opening, one of the first of its kind in the world, making quality Japanese wine easier to enjoy casually. Located a 10-minute walk from Isawa-Onsen Station, the winery offers free factory tours of its bottling and canning lines along with tastings at its shop.
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www.mondewinery.co.jp/サドヤワイナリー
Sadoya Winery
Founded in 1917 in Kofu, Yamanashi, Sadoya Winery is Kofu's oldest winery and a founding force in Japan's authentic dry wine movement. Its roots trace back to an Edo-period oil merchant that became a liquor business in 1909 before formally establishing the winery. Located a five-minute walk from JR Kofu Station in a Provence-themed village, Sadoya offers guided tours (paid, reservation required) of its roughly 700-tsubo underground cellar, complete with barrel and bottle storage and exhibits on Japanese winemaking history. The winery grows Koshu alongside Bordeaux varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Semillon, producing around 15 to 20 wines. Its flagship Chateau Brillant, first crafted in 1946 and released in 1950, has won international recognition and is supplied to Japan's Imperial Household Agency.
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www.sadoya.co.jp/セブンシダーズワイナリー
Seven Cedars Winery
Seven Cedars Winery (7c) is Fujikawaguchiko's first winery, launched in August 2022 by Otomo Resort under winemaker Hiroko Takano. Its guiding concept — turning each grower's entire harvest into wine — pairs 13 contract farmers across Yamanashi's Fuji-Hokuroku highlands with small-lot fermentation tanks sized to each grower's volume, and every bottle is labeled with the grower's name and exact grape composition. Wines range from crisp Koshu and bottle-fermented Delaware sparkling to Muscat Bailey A-based blush blends. In July 2024 the winery opened 7c villa & winery, Japan's first 'winery villa,' inviting guests to stay amid the vines at roughly 850m elevation on Mount Fuji's northern foothills.
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www.7cwinery.com/サントリー登美の丘ワイナリー
Suntory Tomi no Oka Winery
Suntory Tomi no Oka Winery is Japan's most historically significant estate winery, occupying 150 hectares of south-facing hillside in Kai City, Yamanashi Prefecture, at elevations between 400 and 600 metres above sea level. The estate's story begins in 1909, when railway engineer Shinsuke Koyama, struck by the Rhine Valley-like beauty of the terrain, founded Tomi Farm. In 1936, Suntory — then called Kotobukiya — took over the estate together with Zenbei Kawakami, the revered father of Japanese viticulture, cementing a partnership that would define Japanese fine wine for the next century. The winery produced Japan's very first noble rot wine in 1978 (Tomi Noble d'Or, from the 1975 harvest) and its flagship Tomi red was the first Japanese wine to win a gold medal at a major Bordeaux competition (Les Citadelles du Vin, 2003). In 2024, the ultimate recognition arrived: SUNTORY FROM FARM Tomi Koshu 2022 became the first Japanese wine in history to win Best in Show at the Decanter World Wine Awards — chosen from over 18,000 entries worldwide.
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www.suntory.co.jp/factory/tominooka/つるやワイナリー
Tsuruya Winery
Tsuruya Winery (Tsuruya Jozo Co., Ltd.) is a small, brother-run winery in the Hikawa district of Yamanashi City, Yamanashi Prefecture — a locality distinct from the better-known Katsunuma and Koshu wine areas within the same prefecture. The winery has traditionally produced around six wines centered on Koshu and Muscat Bailey A, alongside a notably rare planting of Zweigelt for the region. Output has always been small and consumed largely within the local area, so bottles are seldom found in retail. Recent listings from the Japan Winery Association and Yamanashi City tourism sources note the winery as currently inactive.
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Food Pairings
Koshu whites shine with sushi, sashimi, and tempura; Muscat Bailey A reds suit yakitori and Yamanashi's houtou noodles.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the signature grape variety of Yamanashi?
- Koshu, a pink-skinned white grape indigenous to Japan, is Yamanashi's signature variety, producing elegant, crisp, gently citrusy white wines.
- Is Yamanashi the largest wine region in Japan?
- Yes. Yamanashi has the largest number of wineries in Japan — more than 90 — and is the historic and qualitative center of Japanese wine.
- Which famous wineries are located in Yamanashi?
- Suntory Tomi no Oka Winery in Kai City, whose Tomi Koshu 2022 won Best in Show at Decanter World Wine Awards 2024, plus many historic houses around Katsunuma.
- What food pairs well with Yamanashi Koshu wine?
- Koshu's delicate citrus and clean acidity make it a classic partner for sushi, sashimi, tempura, and other lightly seasoned Japanese dishes.