FUKUSHIMA, Japan – A winery located in an area of Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan that was briefly evacuated after the 2011 nuclear disaster is hoping to become a driving force for local reconstruction efforts.
Kawauchi Winery in the village of Kawauchi has been expanding its sales channels to other prefectures, with its vineyard and facilities recently garnering attention as a tourist attraction.
“It’s grown over the past 10 years, but there’s still more to do,” said Hideya Kitamura, director of Kawauchi Winery.
The village was one of many in the region that was evacuated in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster, which was triggered by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami on March 11, 2011.
Volunteers and residents of the village came together in 2016 to plant around 2,000 vines on a hill located at an elevation of approximately 750 meters. There were 10,000 by 2018.
The winery, which opened in 2021, is a joint public-private corporation invested in by the village. It began selling bottles of wine the following year, with stores in Saitama, Chiba and Shizuoka prefectures stocking the brand.
The harvested grapes are fermented by a staff member who studied winery in Aomori and Yamanashi prefectures before moving to the village.
While their products were initially described as “sour,” the wine has since deepened in flavor as the vines age and has gained more individuality with elements particular to the environment.
“It makes us happy to hear people saying it’s tasty and that they want to drink the wine again,” Kitamura said. “Even if (the winery) is small, we hope it lasts a long time and becomes an industry rooted in the local community.”
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