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Devastated by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, Fukushima Prefecture and its economy – heavily reliant on agriculture – took a considerable hit. Beyond the immediate consequences the disaster brought the region, the farming sector and its reputation would struggle in the years to come, thanks to anxieties following the accident at the Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Fukushima’s farmers were confronted with a crisis that would last well beyond 2011, but finally, some 9 years later, the prefecture is finding itself ripe with stories of recovery thanks to its uniquely sweet peaches.
Harvested in late July, the fruit is among the prefecture’s most cherished symbols and exports.
“In 2011, obviously as a consequence of the disaster, peaches from Fukushima lost all their value,” said Koji Furuyama, who started his peach farm just months before disaster struck. But this misfortune would not deter him. “So, I decided to focus on raising the sugar content levels to make the sweetest peaches ever grown in the world.”
To attempt this ambitious superlative, Furuyama relied on his experience as an engineer.
“In an effort to grow delicious peaches, I started with analyzing the soil at my farm and I found that it had too many nutrients,” he said. “If I was to express this in human terms, I would describe it as excessive fat. This abundance was causing the trees not to try very hard when making peaches. So, I purposely decided to reduce the richness of the soil to make a field that would encourage the trees to work harder.”
And after years of trial and error, Furuyama was able to achieve uniquely sweet peaches – among the highest in sugar content scoring 32.9%. By 2017, he regularly sold his prized produce for hundreds of dollars at many of Tokyo’s best department stores, with a single peach from his farm selling for approximately $5,000 that same year.
But when it comes to sweet success, Furuyama doesn’t feel the pressure to overproduce, refusing to grow more peaches than he can personally lay his hands on. What’s important to him is having people visit to enjoy the peaches for themselves, right in Fukushima.
Meanwhile, Kenichi Hishinuma is the owner of Hishinuma Noen peach farm – a much larger operation than Furuyama’s, but one that fell on equally hard times, with sales halving in the wake of the 2011 disaster.
“The disaster hit us very hard and it was compounded by the reputational damage,” said Hishinuma. “But we didn’t want to dwell on that and decided to be forward-looking.”
After quickly ensuring his business had enough resources to carry on in spite of all the food, water and fuel shortages, Hishinuma took advantage of the opportunities offered by the government to sell his produce in Tokyo. In doing so, he established direct contact with customers — many of whom expressed their desire to be able to order online.
The following year, Hishinuma started regularly uploading videos from his farm to let people know about his activities and followed up on this a year later by setting up an online shop where people from other regions in Japan could order directly from him.
By innovating his storefront and introducing new products such as peach-flavored popcorn and jams, he managed to attract more customers than ever, tripling his business in size.
All this, just in time — as Hishinuma is hopeful the draw of the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics (where the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium will host six softball games from July 22-23 and one baseball game on July 29) will bring even more business his way at one of the best times for peach season.
Other farmers in Fukushima, like Seiichi Sato of Marusei Kajuen, are what most would call a “people person,” as he loves interacting directly with customers.
On the outskirts of Fukushima City, he has a cafeÌ adjacent to his farm where he sells a wildly popular peach dessert that draws lines outside his cafeÌ that resemble those found outside trendy shops in central Tokyo — no matter what day of the week it is.
Visitors at his farm can come to pick and eat peaches for themselves and, in recent years, the uptick in customers visiting from abroad has been considerable.
“I wanted to be the kind of farmer who could see the faces and hear the voices of my customers and that’s the reason why I started this direct-selling business,” Sato said. “And from the very beginning, I wanted it to have a tourism element to it.”
According to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, over 30 countries have lifted all import restrictions on products from Fukushima as of October 2019. As a result, peach exports have surpassed 2010 levels for the past four years, with 2019 shipping some 54.1 tons.
Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, JAPAN – 29 July, 2019
1. Various of workers picking peaches at the Hishinuma Noen peach farm
2. Zoom-in closeup of a peach at Hishinuma Noen peach farm
3. Soundbite (Japanese): Kenichi Hishinuma – peach farmer
“The disaster hit us very hard and it was compounded by the reputational damage. But we didn’t want to dwell on that and decided to be forward looking. The reputational damage was severe though and sales dropped in half and we lost half our customers”.
4. Various of peach harvesting operations
5. Various of workers handling and packaging peaches
6. Soundbite (Japanese): Kenichi Hishinuma – peach farmer
“These peaches are specially cultivated and are very unique. The taste, the size, the color: they’re like artworks.”
Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, JAPAN – 30 July, 2019
7. Tracking low angle shot of peach trees at the Furuyama Kajuen peach farm
8. Various of Koji Furuyama inspecting peach trees at his farm
9. Tracking low angle shot of peach trees at the Furuyama Kajuen peach farm
10. Soundbite (Japanese): Koji Furuyama – peach farmer
“In 2011, obviously as a consequence of the disaster, peaches from Fukushima lost all their value. So I decided to focus on raising the sugar content levels to make the sweetest peaches ever grown in the world.”
11. Mr. Furuyama inspecting peach trees
12. Closeup of peaches at the Furuyama Kajuen peach farm
13. Mr. Furuyama inspecting peach trees
14. Various closeups of peaches at the Furuyama Kajuen peach farm
15. Soundbite (Japanese): Koji Furuyama – peach farmer
“In an effort to grow delicious peaches I started with analyzing the soil at my farm and I found that it had too many nutrients – if I was to express this in human terms, I would describe it as excessive fat. This abundance was causing the trees not to try very hard when making peaches. So I purposely decided to reduce the richness of the soil to make a field that would encourage the trees to work harder.”
16. Mr. Furuyama placing one of his peaches on a machine that can test the pin-point sugar content of a fruit
17. Screen showing a 23% sugar content reading on one of his peaches
18. Closeup of the peach that was just analyzed
19. Various of Mr. Furuyama packaging one of his peaches.
20. Soundbite (Japanese): Koji Furuyama – peach farmer
“The sweetest peach on record grown here had a reading of 32.9% sugar content.”
21. Various of Furuyama Kajuen peach trees
22. Soundbite (Japanese): Koji Furuyama – peach farmer
“I’d love for people to come and try the peaches we grow in Japan with a sugar content of over 20%.”
Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, JAPAN – 29 July, 2019
23. Customers waiting outside the café at Marusei Kajuen where a famous delicious peach dessert is served.
24. Various closeups of the peach dessert sold at Marusei Kajuen peach farm
25. Various of visitors at Marusei Kajuen peach farm, eating peaches they just picked themselves
26. Mr. Seiichi Sato, owner of the Marusei Kajuen peach farm interacting with customers
27. Soundbite (Japanese): Seiichi Sato, peach farmer
“I wanted to be the kind of farmer who could see the faces and hear the voices of my customers and that’s the reason why I started this direct-selling business. And from the very beginning I wanted it to have a tourism element to it.”
28. Low angle shot of a tree full of peaches at the Marusei Kajuen peach farm
29. Soundbite (Japanese): Seiichi Sato, peach farmer
“Fukushima peaches are grown with love, allowed to mature on trees and to soak in the sun rays until they get their vibrant colors.
I’m always delighted to see customers coming here to pick our sweet peaches off the trees for themselves.”
Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, JAPAN – 31 July, 2019
30. Tilt down of Tokyo 2020 sign outside the Azuma Baseball Stadium
31. Various of inside of the Azuma Baseball Stadium
32. Various of Takayu Onsen Adachiya hot spring
33. Various of Tsuchiyu Onsen Sansuiso hot spring
Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, JAPAN – 28 July, 2019
34. Traveling shot of view of Fukushima city
Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, JAPAN – 31 July, 2019
35. View of Fukushima City from high up.
9 March 2020
