Winery / Akiruno City “Vineyard Tama”
A Sustainable, Circular Winery Connecting the Land and Its People “Vineyard Tama”
Good food is best enjoyed with good drinks. A well-crafted beverage can enhance the flavors of a meal and deepen the overall dining experience. This series introduces the makers and people of the Tama area who are passionate about producing alcoholic beverages—an essential partner in the enjoyment of food. In this edition, we feature Vineyard Tama, a winery located in Akiruno City.
Vineyard Tama was established in 2015 by Takafumi Moriya, a practicing dentist and the winery’s president, together with Tamiko Nakano, who at the time was running a dental clinic in Hamura City.
The idea began at a wine gathering among friends who shared a love of wine and talked about their dream of someday making wine with their own hands. Another important motivation emerged when they considered the future of residents at a group home in Hinode who had been patients of Nakano Dental Clinic. With an eye toward their long-term well-being, the founders set out to create employment opportunities after retirement, establishing the winery with the aim of working together through agriculture.
Although both founders were devoted wine enthusiasts, they had no prior experience in winemaking. During their first year, they studied from the ground up under the guidance of a licensed head winemaker.
Reflecting on those early days, Tamiko Nakano, who oversees the winery’s operations as Executive Director, recalls with a smile, “I never imagined winemaking could be so demanding.”
Driven by her energetic “act first” approach, Nakano made the bold decision to leave her job and fully commit to the project. She went on to study winemaking from the ground up at a winemaker training school run by Arc-en-Vigne, a winery in Nagano Prefecture. Through repeated trial and error, Moriya and Nakano steadily built their knowledge and expertise in grape cultivation and winemaking. Over the course of a decade, they accumulated insights into methods suited to the local land. Today, the winery selects vigorous grape varieties well adapted to the climate and terrain, as well as early-harvest varieties, enabling Vineyard Tama to consistently deliver wines of stable flavor and quality.
Uenodai in Akiruno City, where the vineyards spread out, lies on a gently south-facing alluvial fan formed by the Akikawa River and the Hiraigawa River. With its gravelly, well-drained soil and abundant sunlight, the area offers ideal conditions for grape cultivation. The vineyards are located about an eight-minute walk from Musashi-Masudo Station on the JR Itsukaichi Line, making them easily accessible by train—approximately 90 minutes from central Tokyo. What began as a 0.7-hectare vineyard has gradually expanded, now covering 1.5 hectares.
The winery’s goal is to produce wines that fully express the soil, climate, and natural environment in which the grapes are grown—wines with flavors that can be created only in this place. In other words, wines that make the most of their terroir. Today, the vineyards cultivate ten diverse grape varieties, ranging from Japanese-developed grapes such as Yama Sauvignon, Bijou Noir, Monde Briller, and Koshu, to well-known European varieties including Syrah, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon. By 2025, production had grown to approximately four tons of grapes, yielding around 4,000 bottles of wine.
Pruned branches and fallen leaves are returned to the vineyards as fertilizer, while grape pomace produced during winemaking is provided as feed to Takeuchi Farm, a local producer in Akiruno City known for raising Tokyo Wagyu, sometimes referred to as a rare premium beef. The fully matured compost produced from these cattle is then brought back to the vineyards, enriching the soil once again. In this way, Vineyard Tama practices circular, sustainable agriculture, where resources are continually returned to the land.
Grape pomace has also begun to attract the attention of local restaurants, with some incorporating it into dishes for added flavor, seasoning, or as creative side ingredients.
Vineyard Tama also works in partnership with local welfare organizations, with participants helping in grape cultivation. From 2025, the winery has secured a new agricultural site through an expanded agriculture–welfare collaboration at another location overlooking the Akigawa River and Tokyo Summerland.
At this new site, they have launched a project that connects agriculture and social welfare through the cultivation of green papaya. The initiative includes hands-on farming experiences and harvest events, offering participants the opportunity to care for a papaya tree and, in about six months, enjoy the satisfaction of seeing it bear fruit of their own.
Vineyard Tama actively hosts a wide range of events and workshops throughout the year, including grape harvest experiences, outdoor activities using pruned branches, and hands-on sessions such as making wine salt. These programs attract many participants not only from the local area but also from central Tokyo and beyond. Each November, the winery holds its popular “New Wine Festival,” where visitors raise a glass of freshly made wine and enjoy delicious local food accompanied by live music. Loved by local residents and dedicated fans of Vineyard Tama alike, the event has become a seasonal highlight. (For details, please visit the official website.)
Currently, Vineyard Tama offers a lineup of ten wines, including newly released vintages. These include the flagship “Tokyo” Series, made exclusively from grapes grown in the winery’s own vineyards, as well as more affordable options such as the “Kawasemi Harmony” Series and the “Norabou” Series, crafted using grapes from their own fields together with those from contracted farmers in Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, and Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture. At the shop located alongside the vineyards and winery, visitors can purchase these wines and also enjoy tastings priced at 500 yen per glass—an invitation to experience the wines firsthand.
Over the course of ten years, the winery the two founders have built has grown into an essential part of the community—linking farms, restaurants, and people. It is a place where many gather, and where individuals with disabilities also take part in cultivation, contributing side by side through shared work.
| Facility Name: | Vineyard Tama Co., Ltd. Winery & Direct Sales Shop |
|---|---|
| Address | 55 Uenodai, Akiruno City, Tokyo 190-0143, Japan |
| Tel | +81-42-533-2866 |
| Opening Hours | 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Saturdays, Sundays & public holidays: 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) |
| Closed | Tuesdays |
| Website |
