KANUMA, Tochigi -- Tochigi Prefecture has boasted of the largest strawberry production in Japan for 50 years in a row. There is even a strawberry called Tochihime that is sold only in the prefecture.
Various other strawberry varieties are also grown in the prefecture, including the leading Tochiotome; Nyoho, a classical kind that has been popular for many years; and the newcomer Sky Berry, which is quite large. Tochihime is a rare variety grown for harvesting at strawberry-picking farms in the prefecture.
Watanabe Ichigo-en, a strawberry farm in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, has been growing Tochihime in its greenhouses since 2003. Hajime Watanabe, 45, the second-generation owner of the farm, said the harvest season for the strawberries is from late November to early May.
December is a busy season with high demand for strawberries. Watanabe and others begin working in greenhouses from early in the morning, carefully picking the berries by hand and placing them in a basket on a hand cart. They check each strawberry to see if it conforms to standard.
"I want to use as few pesticides or agrochemicals as possible so that consumers can eat them as they are," Watanabe said. "So, I take the risk of losing some strawberries."
It is painstaking work done in a bent-over position.
Each greenhouse has a hive of Western honeybees for crop pollination. During the daytime when the temperature rises, bees actively fly between flowers.
Harvested strawberries are carried to a work area where they are sorted according to shape and size. Compared to Tochiotome, Tochihime strawberries are slightly larger and a more vivid red. Some are as big as hens' eggs. When I ate one, it was meltingly soft and filled my mouth with sweet juice.
"It is the strength of Tochihime and at the same time its weakness," Watanabe said.
Tochiotome was created in 1990 by crossing two varieties. The mother variety, Kurume No. 49, had its stamen removed and was pollinated with the father variety, Tochi no Mine. In the same year, Tochihime was produced by cross-pollinating the same two varieties, but using Kurume No. 49 as the father and Tochi no Mine as the mother.
Tochihime is less tart. It's soft and has an excellent flavor. Because it is so soft, it is easily damaged during shipping and is not suited for shipment outside the prefecture.
Tochihime has become a variety that is grown only at strawberry-picking farms within the prefecture, and so far have been produced only by contract farmers. Since its excellent flavor has become better known in recent years, farmers growing the variety have been increasing in number.
When Watanabe takes orders for Tochihime strawberries from outside the prefecture, he carefully packs them with foam padding and air cushions.
"Many people become fans of the variety after eating it once," he said. "I hope many people try it."
Memo
Tochihime strawberries are sold at 18 tourism strawberry farms and farmers markets in Tochigi Prefecture. Detailed information is available on the prefecture's website. Sales periods and prices differ from farm to farm. Watanabe Ichigo-en's Tochihime strawberries cost 1,900 yen (17 dollars) per pack (excluding shipping fees), sold through February.
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