Viticulture in Japan

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Viticulture in Japan has a long tradition. Wild grapevines of the kind "rust red vine" (' Vitis coignetiae ') occur naturally on trees in Japan and Korea. However, this species is not particularly suitable for making wine . However, during the period when phylloxera was decimating European vineyards, Japan even exported wine made from this grape.

Viticulture has been a tradition in Japan since at least the 12th century. This had two main purposes

  • it was used to make raisins , which were one of the few sweeteners available since sugar was not yet known to be made
  • as a drink in the sense of today's wine, it was made by Buddhist monks for medicinal purposes.

In the village of Ikeda there is a research institute for wine culture and oenology , which also provides tourists with information on Japanese viticulture and operates its own vineyards.

Viticulture in the western sense developed only after the opening of Japan in the 19th century. The pioneer, and often called the father of Japanese viticulture, was Zenbē Kawakami , who through decades of systematic cross-breeding was able to establish a first national quality wine variety, the Muscat "Muscat Bailey A". For his scientific work and his life's work, he was awarded the Japanese Agricultural Prize to a private person.

In Elsheim , the winemaker Heinrich Hamm is listed as an honorary citizen, who lived in Narashino , Chiba Prefecture , because he brought viticulture to Japan - a claim that is historically not entirely understandable, but at least he made the methods of German viticulture known in Japan .

In Japan, with initial successes, the gene transfer between grape varieties is also being dealt with, which is expected to reduce the development time of new grape varieties to 1/10. They are also more open to other technical processes than traditional wine-growing nations.

The grape varieties grown in Japan are European, American and Asian grape varieties that are nowhere else grown in such a broad mix. Particularly sweet white wines are produced, which are almost exclusively consumed in the country itself.

Traditionally, the cultivation of the Koshu grape, suitable for dry, fruity white wines, is documented from 1186 at the foot of Mount Fujisan and west of Tokyo .

Viticulture in Japan originally took place in the form of pergolas , some of which can still be found today. The Japanese climate is not particularly favorable for viticulture. Cold winters and rain in summer contribute to this. In Japan there are only a few areas available for growing wine. Certain areas in Japan are designated as "Special Areas for Wine Development" by the government. Wine is subject to a wine tax in Japan.

import and export

Oppenheim, Mainzer Strasse, toad fountain

Nowadays, however, Japan is more of a major importer u. a. also German wines. In 2008, the Japanese were in 9th place in Germany's export statistics with 14.2 million euros. In the trade with Japan, higher-quality wines were sold with an average price of 159 € / hectolitre. German wine traditionally has a particularly good reputation in Japan, especially Riesling . But simple wines like “ Oppenheimer toad fountain ” also find buyers in Japan.

On the import statistics of Japan, the situation for Germany does not look so good: from 1998 (17 million L for 8 billion yen.) Imports fell to 7 million L for 2003 for approx. 3 billion yen. German wine exporters are represented in Japan by a branch of the German Wine Fund .

Wine is also imported from Australia and all other traditional winemaking countries.

Other alcoholic beverages in Japan

The traditional alcoholic drink in Japan is rice wine . Although sake is actually a general term for any form of alcohol, it usually refers to rice wine. In addition, there were regionally different forms of shōchū made from barley or sweet potato , as well as the umeshu , which is usually referred to as plum wine , although the ume is more of an apricot.

literature

  • Narashinoshi kenkyu 3 (exploring the history of Narashino City No. 3); Education Committee of the City of Narashino 2003, translation available from the translation and publishing service Aya Puster - On Heinrich Hamm's role in Japanese viticulture.
  • Jancis Robinson : The Oxford Wine Lexicon, 3rd revised edition . 1st edition. Gräfe and Unzer Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-8338-0691-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tomohiro Koseki ( 小 関 智 弘 ): Echigo ebikazura ishin - nihon wain budō no chichi kawakami zenbē ibun . Shogakukan, Tokyo 2010, ISBN 978-4-09-388116-6 (Japanese, establishment of the Ebikatsura grape variety in the Echigo wine region: Japan's father of grapes, new edition August 20, 2015).
  2. ^ German wine. Statistics 2009/2010 ( Memento from July 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 214 kB)