My dear friend Yamada-san
September 11, 2001 was a day that changed my life. I had worked as a cellar rat at Windows on the World. A friend of mine, who also started out with me working in the wine cellar, had just been promoted at WOW. We had a wine class together on September 10th at WOW. He had said that some of our friends, who also worked at WOW, were out of town that week for a wedding. Steve told me that he was placing orders for wine and was now working the day shift. He had come to wine late in life but seemed to have found his niche.
But the next morning everything changed. I was downtown NYC in Soho and knew immediately that Steve was in the towers. I knew the drill for what to do if there was an emergency or a terrorist attack. Because we had training before we could start working. It was a known fact that the WTC was a target for future attacks.
The first days and weeks after the Twin Towers fell down are all a blur. But eventually I decided that the only thing that mattered for me was my family and friends. Most of my family is in Japan and I have a lot of friends in Japan as well. A day and a year later, on September 12, 2002, I moved back to Japan to start a new chapter in my life. I landed in a beautiful place called Coco Farm and Winery in Ashikaga, Tochigi. A small city an hour and a bit north of Tokyo. I could live and work at the winery for three months. It was a magical time in my life, and well needed after 9/11. Each year there is a Harvest Festival, the third weekend in November.
The winery is staffed with developmentally disabled individuals who live on the grounds. It is their pure hearts that makes this a special place for everyone who comes to visit. On the weekend of the Harvest Festival some of them dress up for the day. Can you see the angel wings?
They take turns wearing a large wine bottle costume.
While others dress up as clowns. Live music is performed and many of the students dance freely around the grounds.
There are many food stations and everyone coming in gets a bottle of wine, or if you prefer, a bottle of grape juice. Visitors bring along a picnic blanket and sit on the steep hills of the vineyard.
The 2013 Harvest Festival is November 16 and 17. Entrance is 3,000 JPY. If you are coming from Tokyo, take the train to Ashikaga, Tochigi. But be warned, the lines for the shuttle bus from Ashikaga station to the winery can be very long. Taxi lines also long. So, go early!
If you can’t make it this weekend, then think about coming on another day. The winery is open all-year long with a short holiday over New Year’s. There is a café and a tasting room. My favorite wines here include a Kerner and the Coco Rose. The winery makes everything from sparkling to a dessert wine. They have a big portfolio of wines to choose from.
I still remember fondly my time there. I didn’t know if the students were familiar with what happened outside of the winery, or even outside of Japan. I was talking with one of the students and when I told him I had come from New York City, he asked abpit 9/11 right away and expressed his sympathy for New Yorkers. It is the big hearts and sincerity of these students that I hope you can see if you visit. If you go, tell them that Yukari sent you.
CNN did a lovely video on the students at the winery.
The 2013 Harvest Festival is November 16 and 17. Entrance is 3,000 JPY.
Tochigi-ken, Ashikaga-shi, Tajima 611
Phone: 0284-42-1194
Food Sake Tokyo 
It was very interesting to read your post about WOW. I was in the towers when the plane hit as I commuted from NJ every day to work in Lower Manhattan. It was a life changer for me too. I love reading your posts from Japan. I just came back from my first trip and would love to go again soon. Until I can return, I must rely on your awesome posts to enjoy Japan in real time.
Wesley in Washington DC
Thanks for your note Wesley. I hope you can return to Tokyo soon.
Hi Yukari! I had no idea you worked at Coco’s Winery. When my husband and I first moved to Japan 3 years ago, I was severely disappointed by many Japanese wines and lounging for European-style wine. We were eating New Years Eve dinner at a restaurant in Hiroshima and they recommended Coco’s Winery red. We tried it and fell in love. However, shortly thereafter was the tsunami and they quit production for awhile (or at least it became very hard to find). Now that I’m in Tokyo area, I actually booked to go to the Wine Festival on the 16th with a girlfriend because I told her it’s my favorite Japanese winery! 🙂
I have many friends there still. Let me see if I can find out where they will be working that day (which tent serving wine by the glass). It’s my favorite winery in Japan!