- President's Blog
Tomioka Winery Groundbreaking Ceremony
This is the second groundbreaking ceremony at the same location in about 15 years.
The first time was when I returned to Tomioka at the age of 35, and about three years later I built my first home here. Five and a half months later, my house was washed away by the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
This is the second groundbreaking ceremony, held at a site where only pillar reinforcement remains from that time. It will be built next to the storehouse, which miraculously survived the tsunami, and the storehouse will also be used as part of the winery. The winery's architectural design and construction were handled by the same companies as the first time: Haryu Wood Studio and Haganuma Production in Minamiaizu. Having been involved in numerous disaster recovery and reconstruction projects since the disaster, and having cultivated a wealth of experience and technology, the team has reunited in Obama, Tomioka Town, for the first time in 15 years. Also joining the team are staff from Futaba Co., Ltd., who utilized the latest technology to develop the vineyard and plan, survey, and design the multi-purpose plaza.
During the ground-breaking ceremony,
It started in April 2016 with the planting of seedlings in an uninhabited town.
Since then, friends from the evacuation site have gathered on weekends and grown seedlings by imitating others.
Deforestation and land reclamation, damage from typhoons, fallen trees due to strong winds, damage caused by insects, disease, securing land and soil for the fields in front of the station, repairs due to disasters, etc.
The various joys and hardships of the past eight years and three months came back to me like a slideshow.
For many years after we started, people around us asked us, "Why wine in Tomioka?" and no one paid any attention to us because of the salt damage, radioactive contamination, tsunami damage, and lack of people.
About eight years later, we have grown from the Obama field on the hill, and then a vast vineyard in front of the station, and finally a winery adjacent to the vineyard in front of the station. It was a moment when I felt truly glad that we had always created, protected, and continued to believe in our image. And as the years have passed, the support from volunteers and corporate CSR has grown like the rings of a tree, and I am truly grateful to have been supported by so many people to get to where we are today.
This is not the end goal for Tomioka Wine, but just the beginning. It's a project that has been going on for over 100 years, and we've only just begun. Our generation is not the driving force behind Tomioka Wine. I hope that the next generation will build a brand that is recognized as a valuable resource for the region, and that it will become firmly rooted in the local culture.
The winery is scheduled to be completed next spring. The scenery will change daily, so we hope many people will stop by.
