Suntory Tomi no Oka
Yamanashi’s 1909 vineyard — Suntory’s prestige wine arm, planted with MBA from Kawakami himself
The Producer
Suntory’s Tomi no Oka Winery sits on a hillside in Kai City, Yamanashi, with views south to Mount Fuji and east across the Kofu Basin. The vineyard’s history runs in two phases:
1909–1936 — Kosayama era
The original vineyard was opened in 1909 by Shinsuke Kosayama (小佐山新介), a railway official who fell in love with the land while overseeing nearby construction. Kosayama planted grapes for table fruit and small-scale wine production through the 1910s and 1920s.
1936 onward — Suntory era
Kotobuki-ya (the predecessor of Suntory) acquired the farm in 1936. Founder Shinjirō Torii — already running a successful spirits business — wanted a wine arm to complement his fortified-wine product Akadama Port Wine. Torii worked directly with Zenbei Kawakami of Iwanohara on early plantings, and Muscat Bailey A and Campbell Early were the founding varieties at Tomi no Oka. The Sakaguchi-Kawakami-Torii triumvirate (with University of Tokyo fermentation scientist Kinichirō Sakaguchi) collaborated on over 100 brewing trials at Suntory in the late 1930s.
In the 1950s, the estate began planting European varieties — Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay — pursuing world-class winemaking. By the 1990s, Tomi no Oka wines were winning international competition awards regularly. The estate is now Suntory’s prestige Japanese wine flagship, with the "登美" (Tomi) line of premium reds and whites at the top of the portfolio.
Why It Matters
Tomi no Oka is the third corporate pillar of Japanese fine wine — alongside Mercian and Manns — and the one with the deepest direct connection to Kawakami’s breeding program. The fact that the founding 1936 plantings came directly from Iwanohara (via Kawakami’s personal involvement) makes Tomi no Oka the corporate continuation of Kawakami’s legacy in Yamanashi specifically.
Details
- Vineyard founded: 1909 by Shinsuke Kosayama
- Suntory acquired: 1936 (under Shinjirō Torii)
- Founding plantings: Muscat Bailey A, Campbell Early (from Kawakami)
- European-variety transition: 1950s
- Premium label: 登美 (Tomi)
- Location: Kai City, Yamanashi