CAMP & CHEERS KANESHIGE

Do you know CAMP & CHEERS KANESHIGE in Shimojo Village? It’s a campground run directly by a brewery, operated by Kaneshige Farm, a three-generation apple farm.

The third-generation owner is quite an interesting person too. After graduating high school, he went into fashion design in Nagoya, worked at a restaurant in Tokyo, and then returned home to take over the farm.

Actually, the previous generation also apprenticed for a year on a farm in Oregon, USA, about 50 years ago. He brought back what he learned about advanced fruit cultivation. I think a spirit of challenge has been passed down through the family for generations.

They started brewing when Shimojo Village was designated a fruit wine special zone in 2016, and they converted their own apple juice processing facility into a brewery. It has a semi-basement structure to keep the temperature stable, and they apparently built it entirely as a DIY project.

Their hard cider, "FARMER'S CRAFT CIDER DRY," is made from 100% homegrown Fuji apples, and there are plenty of other cider varieties with distinctive names like "RED," "BOB," and "JULIEN." They also serve six kinds of craft beer on tap. In Shimojo Village overlooking the Southern Alps, it’s the ultimate local production for local consumption, using apples grown with reduced pesticides and organic fertilizer.

And when you arrive at the campground, you can choose a welcome drink from draft craft beer, draft hard cider, or apple juice. All of it while looking out at the Southern Alps beside the clear waters of Minamisawa River.