Japanese wine match for Japanese cuisine. is a red wine grape hybrid developed by (1868–1944) at the in Niigata Prefecture. Kawakami's goal was to develop a grape for wine adapted to Japan's climate. He did this by mixing the type grape with "Muscat Hamburg" type grape to give birth to a red wine grape that is widely used in Japan. Also developed by Kawakami was the variety known as . The characteristics of Muscat Bailey-A are a very grape juice-like flavor and it is most widely used in sweet amakuchi wines. However, in recent years, drier varieties and barrel aged varieties have
Mirin designated the day of "hon-mirin" by the "mirin" industry, because in Japanese wordplay, the date words sound like '11' (, good) and '30' (, "mirin"). "Mirin" is also used to make other sauces: Mirin Three types of "mirin" are common. The first is "hon mirin" (literally: true "mirin"), which contains about 14% alcohol and is produced by a 40- to 60-day mashing (saccharification) process. The second is "shio mirin", which contains alcohol as low as 1.5% to avoid alcohol tax. The third is "shin mirin" (literally: new "mirin"), or "mirin-fu chomiryo" (literally: mirin-like seasoning), which contains less than 1% alcohol,