Ushiku City in Ibaraki Prefecture, home to Ushiku Chateau—Japan’s first full-scale large winery and a designated Japan Heritage site—has signed a sister-city agreement with Telavi, Georgia, a city in a country widely known as the birthplace of wine.
The signing ceremony was held on April 3, 2026 in the main building of Ushiku Chateau, a nationally designated Important Cultural Property. The two mayors signed the agreement, followed by remarks from officials and an exchange of views.
The two cities share a clear common theme: wine.
Ushiku is home to Ushiku Chateau, founded in 1903 and recognized as one of the starting points of Japan’s modern wine industry. Telavi, meanwhile, is the capital of Kakheti in eastern Georgia and a center of wine culture with a history stretching back thousands of years.
The relationship is said to have begun after the Georgian ambassador to Japan, an alumnus of Ibaraki Prefectural Ushiku Eishin High School, visited the city and exchanged views with local officials. Ushiku proposed the significance of building ties with the birthplace of wine, and Telavi was introduced as a potential partner.
Mutual visits and exchanges followed, leading to the formal sister-city agreement.
Expectations for Broad Exchange Centered on Wine
Going forward, cooperation is expected to expand beyond wine into many fields.
Plans include exchanges related to the wine industry and culture, citizen-to-citizen interaction, education and sports.
In the wine sector in particular, the direct connection between “a birthplace of modern Japanese wine” and “one of the world’s oldest wine cultures” is highly symbolic.
For Ushiku Chateau and Ushiku City as they strengthen their international identity as a “wine town,” this agreement is a development worth watching.
One of the roots of Japanese wine is now linked directly with the birthplace of wine. Expectations are high for the new stories and concrete exchanges that may emerge from this relationship.