Tokyo, it has to be said, is not exactly blessed with greenery, but in neighbouring Yamanashi Prefecture, they have a veritable glut of the stuff.
Although thankfully for the purist, there is a generous enough smattering of concrete accommodation to give it at least a hint of that traditional Tokyo-like topography.
Somewhat surprising however is that a large amount of the colouring comes from grapes, with this part of Yamanashi in particular positively bursting with them. A crop that, considering the Japanese love affair with packaging, thankfully comes complete with wrapping — or at least a preliminary part of it.
Such an abundance also means that the region is blessed with wineries, making the thought of a trip all the more worthwhile. But despite the use of foreign names,
and complicatedly carved barrels,
the end product could be politely described as poor, unpalatable even. The labelling of one particular tipple as ã™ã”ㄠワイン (great wine) arguably taking optimism to previously uncharted territory.
And then some.
Gavin says
Ahh, Japanese wine. Most of it tastes like $*^#… but you do sometimes find the odd good-ish one.
However, those good ones are made by growing Western grape varieties in Japan and making wine from that. The horrible, undrinkable junk is made from Japanese local grape varieties.
Bunny says
That story warmed my enviable cockles. Nothing like a good libation of Mercian wine to finish the day with… if you’re alcoholic, that is.
Harvey says
SUGOI! WINE!
I can’t believe the label says… SUGOI WINE.
How can I best translate that… Let me give it a shot.
“WHOA! WINE!”
“AMAZING! WINE!”
“It’s FREAKIN’ AWESOME WINE!”
Too funny.
Adam says
So humble, just like the Japanese.