“Fruit in Motion. Fukushima Connected.” A Winery Expanding the Future of Fukushima Fruit and Local Growers
Fukushima Ouse Winery was established in 2015 through a project developed by the Mitsubishi Corporation Disaster Relief Foundation together with Koriyama City to support recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011.
In 2014, reconstruction in the affected areas was still only partway complete. In Fukushima Prefecture in particular, reputational damage to agricultural products caused by the nuclear accident remained severe. Through repeated discussions with local farmers and municipalities, the project decided to support a system that would process locally grown fruit into fruit wine and bring it to market. It created a new sixth-sector industrial model integrating primary production, secondary processing, and tertiary sales.
With the goals of expanding the possibilities of delicious fruit from “Fruit Kingdom Fukushima” and supporting farmers taking on the challenge of growing wine grapes, the project supported sixth-sector development in fruit agriculture. Together with local fruit growers, it began cultivating grapes, and in 2019 the first wine made from 100% Koriyama-grown grapes, “Vin de Ollage,” was born. The name draws on the local dialect word “orage,” meaning “my home,” and expresses the wish that it become “our local wine,” one that people in the community can recommend with confidence.