Photo/Illutration Bottles of Kai-Akasaka Premium Tomato Juice on display with Akasaka Tomatoes in Kai, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Dec. 9 (Ko Iwaki)

KAI, Yamanashi Prefecture--At the equivalent of $57 a bottle, it would hardly come as a surprise if consumers didn’t do a double take at the asking price of a premium tomato juice recently released for sale here.

After all, that’s what many people would pay for a decent bottle of wine.

A 500-milliliter bottle of Kai-Akasaka Premium Tomato Juice costs 6,480 yen, including tax, and supplies are limited.

Boasting a sweet and rich flavor, the high-end juice is sourced from Akasaka Tomatoes, a locally grown cultivar, and sold only online and in limited quantities for now. It is pure natural juice, not concentrate.

It was selected to represent the city as a reward to those who make cash donations to Kai under the “furusato nozei” hometown tax payment system.

The product is the brainchild of Hills Firm Inc., a Kofu-based company that manufactures and sells premium grape juice made from locally grown grapes.

The company said it used Frutica, an Akasaka Tomato variety produced by the Kai-based agricultural production corporation Akasaka Nojo, and made it additive-free.

Two hundred bottles were produced for the first batch.

The tomato juice was unveiled at the city hall for a tasting session on Dec. 9.

“I’m impressed. Farmers ought to feel their spirits uplifted knowing that the finest product of its kind derives from their own community,” said Kai Mayor Takeshi Hosaka after savoring a sip.

“We made best use of the Akasaka Tomato,” said Yuto Inoue, the president of Hills Firm. “I hope the juice will help raise the profile of our tomatoes.”

Each 500-milliliter bottle is packaged in a special box and a bag made exclusively for the product.

It is available at the company’s Yamanashi Kajitsu online shop at (https://yamanashi-kajitsu.com/).

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