Grapes

Today there are more than 150 varieties of grapes in Japan - some can be bigger than ping-pong balls! That's just one result of a continuous quest for size, sweetness and visual appeal. Grapes prompt thoughts of wine, and although some Japanese wine has recently won praise even in Europe, the road to recognition was long and hard. On this edition of BEGIN Japanology, our theme is grapes. We'll look at the efforts to make grapes suited to the Japanese climate and the story of Japanese winemaking.