vineyard

(Photo by Aiko Setoguchi)

Some falls ago, I visited Asahi En, a grape farm in Katsunuma, Yamanashi, west of Tokyo. One late morning, I got on an express train from Shinjuku, and after about an hour, found myself with a sea of grape leaves spreading before me at Katsunuma Budou-kyou Station. The name of the station means “home of grapes.”

Once I stepped off the train, I dove into the cool mountain air and aroma of grape leaves. A monochrome landscape spread before me – a field full of grape leaves in bright green and mountains in bold green. Nothing else, just a breathtaking view!

sunlight shines on mountains in Yamanashi

(Photo by Aiko Setoguchi)

I headed to one of the farms in the area for grape picking. When I arrived, my immediate impression was that grape trees are much shorter than I anticipated! Seeing large bunches of grapes at supermarkets, I always thought they must have been from large trees. However, the grape trees in front of me were reachable just by extending my arms or with a moderately-sized ladder.

Even more surprising were the many varieties of grapes available like Kaiji, Koushu, Berry A, Pione, Shine Muscat, Pizzutello Bianco, Rosario Bianco. The Pizzutello Bianco was especially exciting to me – unlike regular round grapes, these were oval but with a light green color like Muscat. A farm employee told me the grapes are nicknamed “lady fingers” because of their delicate shape. The farm, she said, imported a seedling of Pizzutello Bianco from Italy and planted it next to trees they already had at their farm. It looked so rare. No wonder it was popular among visitors.

I was lucky enough to be able to pick the last remaining bunch of the season at the farm! The taste of it was sweet, just like regular muscat. It was easier to eat because the shape was slimmer than round ones. After Pizzutello Bianco, I got to pick Kaiji, which are native to Yamanashi. Kaiji grapes are sweet and have a light red, thin skin.

I spent the next hour exploring the many new varieties of grapes at the farm.

Back in my childhood, I only knew three kinds of grapes, purple Kyoho, shiny green Muscat and red Delaware. I adored Kyoho because it’s the grape of my birthplace in Nagano. I liked Delaware because they were seedless and as a kid, I wasn’t a fan of the firmness of Muscat grapes. At the farm, I was stunned by the many types of grapes they had and left with two basketfuls.

I’ve been patriotic to Nagano’s apples, peaches and Kyoho grapes, proudly calling them Japan’s three best fruits. But learning more about grapes in Yamanashi made me think discovering new fruits is not so bad. Apples will always bring me nostalgic feelings of cold seasons in Nagano and New York, my third home after Nagano and Kanto, while grapes will probably remind me to be open to something new and exciting!

Things to know

Address: 1852 Katsunumacho Katsunuma, Koshu, Yamanashi 409-1316

Hours: 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. daily.

Website: https://asahien.net/

Information: Grape harvest season runs in early August to mid-October. More details on Asahi En Website.

About the author

Aiko has been a proud contributor to Stars and Stripes since 2023 and to the New York Times since 2019. She’d like to thank the Stripes editors, her colleagues and friends in Japan and the U.S., plus her Mom and cats, all of whom have been cheerleaders of her writing career.

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