As a declining rural population takes its toll on grape cultivation in Osaka Prefecture, Tomofumi Fujimaru is doing what he can to save its remaining fields from abandonment.
In 2013, he opened the Shimanouchi Fujimaru Winery in the very heart of Osaka — the only urban winery in the prefecture — where he produces 35,000 bottles a year using grapes from the surrounding area.
As a university student, Fujimaru worked as a part-time waiter in Osaka's Hotel Hankyu International. He was soon overwhelmed by the huge variety of wines on offer, and figured that the best way to understand wine, more than studying or drinking it, would be to learn how to make it.