Koshu Valley is the informal name for the main wine-producing area of Japan, a valley extending around the town of
Koshu in the eastern part of
Yamanashi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...
. The area comprises the towns of
Koshu,
Yamanashi and
Fuefuki
270px, Ichinomiya Asama Shrine
is a city in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 69,463 in 29,406 households, and a population density of 340 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Fuefuki i ...
, collectively known as the "Kyōtō Region" (峡東地域). An alternative name for the area is the "Kyōtō Wine Resort" (峡東ワインリゾート), translated into English as the "Yamanashi Wine Resort" to avoid confusion with the city of "
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ...
" which has a similar pronunciation.
The valley, including some of the surrounding mountains, covers 756 square kilometers.
It constitutes the largest grape producing area in Japan and has the highest concentration of wineries in the country, making it the leading producer of
Japanese wine
Although viticulture and the cultivation of grapes for table consumption has a long history in Japan, domestic wine production using locally produced grapes only really began with the adoption of Western culture during the Meiji restoration in ...
, especially from the
Koshu grape.
References
External links
*
Geography of Yamanashi Prefecture
Wine regions
Japanese wine
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