TOKYO, Sept 26 — Japan’s Minister of Agriculture, Shinjiro Koizumi, has spoken out in defense of his ministry’s grape licensing policy following sharp criticism from local producers over international cultivation talks regarding the premium Shine Muscat variety.
At the heart of the controversy is a recent move by the ministry to begin discussions with New Zealand about potentially growing Shine Muscat grapes—without first informing or involving the Japanese farmers who have spent years cultivating the brand’s prestige.
Yamanashi Prefecture, known as one of Japan’s top Shine Muscat producing regions, voiced its concerns during a press conference. Governor Kotaro Nagasaki, accompanied by a representative from the local agricultural cooperative, took the issue directly to Koizumi. They urged the minister to focus more on expanding the global export market rather than granting overseas cultivation rights.
Koizumi, widely regarded as a frontrunner to replace outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the upcoming Liberal Democratic Party leadership vote, reassured stakeholders during his own press remarks:
“Governor Nagasaki has requested that we expand exports to more countries, and I fully support that direction,” he stated.
“We would not move forward with any licensing agreements without first securing the understanding and consent of local producers and their governors.”
He emphasized that licensing agreements for certain agricultural products had already been outlined in a cabinet-approved policy earlier this year. The ministry, he noted, remains committed to both innovation and respect for local agricultural communities.
The Shine Muscat grape itself is no ordinary fruit. Developed over 30 painstaking years starting in the late 1980s by Japan’s national agricultural institutions, it has come to symbolize both luxury and the promise of Japan’s agricultural exports. However, a lack of early international protection allowed the grape’s seedlings to leak to countries like China and South Korea—who now export their own versions across Southeast Asia.
In response, Japan enacted legislation in 2021 to prevent the overseas sale of such valuable seedlings, aiming to protect the fruits of decades of domestic research and investment.
