SHIZUOKA -- Koichi Adachi attracts chocolate fans from around the nation with his specialty products and his peculiar ways.
The chocolatier's shop, Chocolatier EauRouge, in Nagaizumi, Shizuoka Prefecture, is open only when the outside temperature is 23 C or lower. The flavor of chocolate changes when it starts to melt, so Adachi, 44, set this rule so that his chocolates would not melt when they are prepared or when shoppers take them home.
This means the shop generally opens only from early November to late March. Many customers buy into Adachi's philosophy, bringing their own cooler bags when they visit.
On the store shelves are high-end products, such as a box of six pieces that can cost 2,500 yen or 6,000 yen depending on the type of chocolate.
Adachi makes chocolates according to the cacao beans' country of origin, their variety and cacao content.
The chocolatier uses ingredients from six countries: Mexico, Haiti, Tanzania, Ghana, Ecuador and Madagascar. Different climates and soils give the cacao beans different characteristics. Chocolates made from Haitian cacao beans are fruity, while Tanzanian ones produce an acidic and astringent hint similar to red wine. Customers at Chocolatier EauRouge can compare different flavors depending on the different origins.
Adachi was born to a family that ran a wagashi Japanese confectionery shop in Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture. It was natural for the young Adachi to become a confectioner as he grew up watching his grandfather and father make sweets.
Adachi trained at three shops before opening his chocolate shop at the foot of Mt. Amagi in his early 20s.
"At that time, there were few specialty chocolate shops," he recalled.
However, Adachi gained confidence from customers as many guests who stayed at ryokan inns in the neighborhood came to visit his shop after hearing good reviews about his products.
Adachi opened the current chocolate shop in Nagaizumi in 2007.
The second floor of the shop is always illuminated by red lights. Adachi is now taking on the challenge of cultivating domestic cacao trees using LED lighting. The room is also kept warm because cacao is native to tropical regions where it rains a lot throughout the year with temperatures exceeding 27 C.
Cultivating cacao trees, however, is not an easy task. Adachi started the challenge with 15 trees in 2015, but now the number has decreased to five because he has struggled with irrigation, fertilizing and sunlight.
"I feel like I'm taking care of bonsai," the chocolatier said.
"They have yet to bear fruits, but I'm looking forward to what the flavors [of chocolate made using cacao from these trees] would be like," he added.
Most sweets shops in the nation buy bars made from fermented and dried cacao beans, using them as the "raw" ingredients to make their products.
However, the flavors of finished products depends on how cacao beans are fermented, which means chocolatiers have to process cacao beans on their own if they want to produce chocolates with the flavors they desire.
Adachi simply wondered how chocolates made from domestic cacao trees would taste -- which inspired him to cultivate the tree.
While cacao trees are grown at some botanical gardens in the nation, there are few examples of their commercial cultivation, according to the chocolatier.
"I hope I can develop a major brand representing Japan in my native Izu region," he said.
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