JOURNAL
Journal
Terroir, people, philosophy, harvest — a cultural record of Japanese wine.
June 2, 2026
Why Japan's Terroir Is So Remarkably Complex
The Japanese archipelago is not, by conventional wisdom, a blessed land for winemaking. Too much rain, too much humidity, typhoons. Yet wine is being made across the country — and its terroir is becoming increasingly compelling.
June 1, 2026
Why Wine Captivates Us
Wine is a strange drink. If you only wanted to get drunk, there are plenty of other options. Yet people spend hours talking about wine, travel to distant vineyards, and carefully open that one precious bottle.
May 30, 2026
The Terroir Is Still Fermenting
Japanese wine is still a young culture. But that is precisely what makes it fascinating. Nothing is set yet. It is still shifting. Still changing. Perhaps that very incompleteness is what makes Japanese wine so compelling right now.
May 29, 2026
The Generation That Thinks Wine from the Land
Japanese wine once carried the great theme of "catching up with the world." But today, those entering vineyards anew are starting from a different place—asking from the very beginning: "How do we make wine in this land?"
May 28, 2026
Not the World, but the Terroir
For a long time, Japanese wine sought to "catch up with the world." But at some point, the question began to change—toward asking: "What flavors can only be born in this land?"
May 27, 2026
New Terroir of the Northern Land
From the 2000s onward, the map of Japanese wine began to spread northward. Hokkaido became more than just a new wine region—it became a place that would transform the very values of Japanese wine.
May 26, 2026
Those Who Returned Wine to the Land
Around the year 2000, something quietly shifted in the world of Japanese wine. People were turning away from simply "catching up with the world" and moving instead toward farming, toward the land.
May 25, 2026
Japanese Wine Pursues World Standards
After the war, Japanese wine underwent dramatic change. Mass production, quality control, winemaking technology. Japanese wine began in earnest its pursuit of quality—and of making wine that could stand on the world stage.
May 24, 2026
The Dawn of Japanese Wine
Tracing the history of Japanese wine, what first comes into view is not "Japaneseness," but a strong yearning for the West. The Meiji Restoration. Westernization. An era when all of Japan was rapidly modernizing.
May 23, 2026
Why JOUKEI Exists — Recording the Landscapes of Fermentation
Wine is not merely fermented fruit — it is the invisible accumulation of climate, soil, human lives, and philosophy, slowly becoming taste. JOUKEI was created to record that landscape.