Yoichi and Niki, the New Havens of Japanese Wine Tourism

In September 2024, we conducted a two-week fieldwork session with my colleague Viktoria Murskaja in the wine-producing towns of Yoichi and Niki in Hokkaido, where I currently reside due to my PhD research. As the title “How is a regional wine destination constructed? Exploring storytelling through stakeholder narratives in Yoichi-Niki, Japan” suggests, we wanted to see how local stakeholder narratives and lived realities work to create and maintain the image of a wine destination in regional Japan. For this purpose, we performed participant observation at several wineries and wine-related establishments, conducted stakeholder interviews, and filmed more than eleven hours of video material in total. The article, along with its three-part research video, is still free to view and download here for a very limited time, so grab a copy ASAP if this piqued your interest!

Although wine is increasingly enjoyed in both home and restaurant contexts in Japan, high-quality domestic wines still remain relatively rare. In Yoichi and Niki, however, a distinctive wine culture has begun to flourish. Much of the recent wine movement is attributed to winemaker Takahiko Soga, whose winery Domaine Takahiko has helped to spark a wave of new small producers across the region. The region’s cool climate poses challenges but also makes for a distinct winescape, allowing grape growers to cultivate European cold-hardy varieties such as Pinot Noir, which is quite unusual in Japan.

Despite the growing reputation of wine in Yoichi and Niki, we noticed that visiting the wineries is not always easy. Public transport is limited, while accommodation remains scarce and often expensive. Additionally, many small producers are too busy working their vineyards to develop tourism services, while some wineries even discourage visits entirely. Simultaneously, the region is attracting increasing attention from tourists and wine enthusiasts eager to experience its unique terroir. For now, the famous Nikka Whisky Yoichi Distillery is the main attraction that attracts day trip visitors from across the world. Yoichi and Niki remain young wine destinations that are still in the process of configuring the local community life to find a balance between agriculture and tourism. Yet it is precisely the exciting sense of discovery that makes the region a compelling place to visit.

The case of Yoichi and Niki ties in essentially with questions of seasonal tourism, as wine-related tourism services could provide a well-needed boost for the difficult winter season. Surprisingly, climate change was also pointed out by the interviewees as a factor that could turn the environment even more beneficial for wine production, at least in the short term. Yoichi and Niki provide very fertile ground for a follow-up study about winter tourism assemblages regarding wine. With regional revitalisation interests in mind, both of the towns seem very passionate in engaging with further wine-related development. This promises a future of wine that ties in even stronger with local characteristics and brings out the region’s unique appeal.

Check out also Viktoria’s blog post written in Finnish about our research journey.