(JapanTimes) - For years Yamanashi Prefecture, one of Japan's leading wine regions, has boasted the virtues of its domestic output even though the home market is largely dominated by cheaper imports, including "domestic wine" made with imported grapes. In 2003, the prefecture launched an annual wine competition that only accepts entries made from grapes grown and harvested in Japan. For the Ninth Japan Wine Competition, held in the prefectural capital of Kofu last August, some 717 "pure Japanese" wine brands — the largest number so far — were entered, according to its organizing committee.