KORIYAMA, Fukushima Prefecture--With the raising of a glass to local farmers, a venture winery here has started operations in hopes of helping local fruit orchards that have withered in the aftermath of the March 2011 triple disaster.
KORIYAMA, Fukushima Prefecture--With the raising of a glass to local farmers, a venture winery here has started operations in hopes of helping local fruit orchards that have withered in the aftermath of the March 2011 triple disaster.
The Fukushima Ouse Winery, located in the Ouse-machi district in Koriyama, which was officially launched on Oct. 27, produces wines using locally harvested grapes.
“I hope it will provide a huge breakthrough to the stagnant agricultural sector in the prefecture,” said Toshikazu Hashimoto, 70, one of the farmers in Koriyama who will produce wine grapes for the project.
“I have as many high expectations as I feel responsibility. If I can produce quality wine grapes, then I will consider expanding my vineyard.”
The winery, a joint venture between the city government and the Disaster Relief Foundation of the major trading firm Mitsubishi Corp., also plans to produce fruit liqueurs using peaches, pears and apples harvested in Fukushima Prefecture.
It has formed a tieup with four grape farmers in Koriyama, including Hashimoto, who will grow wine grapes for the first time for the project. It will take three years for the first harvest if their seedlings grow according to schedule.
“I was a bit skeptical if the project would be viable when I was first offered the chance to grow wine grapes, but I also thought that the project would fit perfectly with my desire to show people how Fukushima has recovered,” said Hideaki Nakao, a 37-year-old farmer who is participating in the project. “Then my desire to take on a new challenge won out and cast away all my doubts at last.”
The winery opened on a 9,000-square-meter city-owned plot in the Ouse-machi district, located about 70 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The construction cost, including the cost of 26 wine-making tanks, and the initial cost of raw materials totaled about 1 billion yen ($8.14 million). The brewing tanks can store up to 38,000 liters of wine, while distillery machinery imported from Germany can simultaneously process 300 liters of liquor.
Until the partnered farmers in Koriyama start harvesting wine grapes three years from now, the winery will procure grapes from vineyards around Fukushima Prefecture.
It has also signed a contract with 10 farmers in the prefecture who will supply substandard or fruit with superficial defects, which they cannot ship directly to market, to the winery.
Winery officials said they hope to ship the first bottles of wine and fruit liqueurs early next year.
After three years, the annual production is expected to reach 12,000 liters and eventually total 25,000 to 30,000 liters in the future with annual sales of around 70 million yen, the officials said.
The winery also plans to set up a tasting room and allow visitors to tour the facility by March 2017 to attract more tourists to the area.
According to the prefectural office, the total shipping volume of fruits from the prefecture has recovered to similar levels before the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
The average price of the fruit products harvested in the prefecture, however, has not returned to pre-disaster levels following a nosedive after the unfurling of the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
For example, the shipping volume of peaches totaled 27,000 tons in 2014, an increase from 26,200 tons in 2010, but its average wholesale price at the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market was 358 yen per kilogram in 2014, down from 439 yen in 2010.
The number of peach farmers who are primarily located in northern Fukushima dropped by around 200 households from the pre-disaster level of 2,400.
Koriyama city and the Disaster Relief Foundation, which was set up by Mitsubishi Corp. in 2012, signed a partnership agreement to promote the city’s agricultural businesses and tourism in February.