Japan battles to protect premium US$100 a bunch grapes ‘stolen’ by China, South Korea

Farmers trying to export Shine Muscat grapes, which took scientists 33 years to develop, to places such as Hong Kong face stiff competition from cheaper copycats

‘I don’t like it when I see that something Japan worked so hard to produce is easily brought overseas and sold there,’ laments a grower

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Yuki Nakamura harvests Shine Muscat grapes on his farm in Tomi city, Japan’s Nagano prefecture. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:08pm, 10 Dec 2023

The variety of juicy grape that Yuki Nakamura is harvesting as the sun rises over his farm took scientists 33 years to develop and can sell for US$100 a bunch in Tokyo department stores.

But in the view of Japanese farmers and officials, the chunky emerald-green Shine Muscat, one of many fruit varieties created by Japan, has been “stolen” by China and South Korea.

“The great things about Shine Muscat are that each grape berry becomes big, it’s easy to grow, and it’s sweet but not too much,” Nakamura said in the country’s central Nagano region.

Calling the grapes his “partner”, the 35-year-old said he wants to export to places such as Hong Kong and Thailand, where Japanese fruits are popular.

But waiting on the shelves there – and online – are copycats grown by China and South Korea that are nearly the same as Shine Muscat grapes, but much cheaper.

According to the Japanese government, China and South Korea took Shine Muscat seedlings out of Japan and grafted them onto local vines to produce fruit that looks and tastes – almost – as good.