KOFU, Yamanashi Pref. — A sip of locally produced wine in Yamanashi six years ago gave businessman Takayuki Sasamoto a vision that his home prefecture could become a center for wine tourism similar to wine-producing areas in Europe and North America.
Sasamoto, 38, saw a market for tours of wineries, where guests would talk with vintners while sampling the local food and culture.
Wine production began in Yamanashi at the beginning of the Meiji Era and the prefecture has been transformed into a key wine-making area, with about 80 wineries in operation. Organized wine tours, however, were few and far between.
Sasamoto's efforts reached fruition last year with the Wine Tourism 2008 event in which about 2,000 people took part, many of them coming from outside the prefecture.
Initially, some wineries took a skeptical view of the event, which was aimed at changing perceptions. But Sasamoto managed to overcome the organizational difficulties and a second event was held last month.
Although Sasamoto grew up in Yamanashi, where his parents ran a company coating plates for vehicles, he left the area to go to university in Tokyo. Back then, he felt his dreams and hopes for the future would be better realized elsewhere.
After graduating, he went to the United States, where he took part in activities to help the poor. After returning to Japan, he was employed by a company in Tokyo but ended up back in Yamanashi to work in the family business.
