Born and raised in Sanagouchi, a tight-knit farm village in Tokushima Prefecture, Masafumi Kurisaka, 50, spent seven years at a major Japanese industrial and engineering corporation in Osaka. He left to carry on the family strawberry business. Now, 25 years later, he is the owner of Japan’s first luxury line of strawberries, a brand called Sakura Momo Ichigo, and head of the Strawberry Division at Tokushima City’s Japan Agricultural Cooperative.
1. Can you describe yourself in three words? “Cheerful” is the first one. The second is “red,” as in I’m burning with passion for my strawberries. Lastly, “strawberry,” because I need to think as though I am one of my strawberries to know if they are thirsty or too cold.
2. What made you quit your corporate job and switch to farming? I had begun to doubt the way the corporation operated. At the same time, my father’s strawberries, called Momo Ichigo, were taking off. I thought the timing was right to carry on the family business.
3. What does strawberry farming mean to you? I am proud of my strawberries and want everyone to try them. I don’t expect 100 out of 100 people to love them, but I want to grow the kind that 90 out of 100 will love. No other place than Sanagouchi can use the name Sakura Momo Ichigo because we were the first in the country to legally register and claim it for us. We pioneered the strategy to turn agricultural produce into a luxury, like how people think of Louis Vuitton.
4. What is your daily routine? I wake up at 4 a.m. every day. First, I box strawberries. Then I eat breakfast, some locally produced seaweed with rice, around 7 a.m. Afterward, I harvest strawberries, ship them and finish around 6 p.m. Still, I continue packaging strawberries until 9 p.m.
5. Are strawberries your favorite fruit? I eat strawberries every day, and I eat them immediately after picking them without washing them. We make the kind of strawberries that don’t need washing. However, my favorite fruit is pineapple!
6. How many people do you farm strawberries with? On my farm, there is my father, mother and myself. In Sanagouchi, there are 19 farmers registered in the Strawberry Division. They each run their own farm with their families and in-laws.
The good thing about working with family is that I can say whatever I want, whenever I want. There is no need to build stress up and get irritated, we exchange opinions before that happens.
7. Can you explain the Sakura Momo Ichigo name? We had a client in Chiba Prefecture whose daughter came up with the name. It must have been a gut feeling. “Sakura” (cherry blossoms) reminds people of April when strawberries are in season and taste the best. The predecessor berry, “Momo Ichigo” (peach-strawberry), came from a local festival where my father was collecting ideas.
8. How do Sakura Momo Ichigo differ from other strawberries? Our strawberries shine from reflecting light. The biggest strawberries are the size of a computer mouse.
9. What has been the highlight in your 25 years of farming? It was 10 years ago when I took over my father’s farm and saw the first strawberries that grew under my leadership. Until then, our farm had used fertilizer made from dried and powdered corn stalk. I tried something new and used fertilizer made from cow manure and black sugar cane.
10. What life lesson has farming taught you? Patience. I must look after strawberries 365 days a year. I spend a lot of time alone completing my work in silence. I need to endure with patience, despite not being able to control the result. Seeing my strawberries grow to their biggest size possible is the best.
11. What is your favorite food pairing with Sakura Momo Ichigo? I sandwich it in a daifuku (bean jam-stuffed rice cakes) with white bean paste. A local sweets store uses our strawberries for their daifuku, too.
12. Are you an introvert or extrovert? I am an extrovert. That is why I can nurture long-term relationships with return buyers. When I am alone, though, I zone out.
13. How would you describe your village? Nosy. Every person on the street is someone you know. So, they ask you how you are doing out of worry. It’s a place with real humanity.
14. Who or what was the greatest love of your life? My daughter. She is an adult with a job now. She is so innocent and acts on her ideas. She says she will not become a farmer, but wants to help sell our strawberries.
15. Your farm is implementing technology to achieve “smart farming” but what is that? We quantify the temperature and carbon dioxide levels in the strawberry house. The sensors measure these factors, and we can see the data on our computers and phones.
16. Using “smart farming” technology helps maximize efficiency, but I’m guessing it might also help with any labor shortages in your area due to the trend toward an aging population? Yes. The number of people over 65 is about 60% of the entire village. Less than half of the Strawberry Division, around seven people, are over 65 years old. About 15 years ago, over half of the division was over 70 years old. In recent years, with a new generation taking charge, the average age is now about 50 years old.
We are accepting new farmers and have a 37-year-old trainee now. Three more trainees will come this month.
17. How do you ensure luxury quality strawberries? To be able to ship out a strawberry under the brand name Sakura Momo Ichigo, the average sugar content taken from its pointy end, middle area and leafy part must be 12 degrees Celsius compared to the market average of 8 C. The shape of the fruit must also be perfect, with no bruises.
18. How did you turn a fruit that we can get almost anywhere into a luxury item? We handed out samples in the beginning to gain recognition. Packaging is the most important element, and we designed our own box. We got creative in advertising, by mainly targeting Osaka and the broader Kansai region. We installed posters in trains, on the side of buses, and had radio shows talk about us. We were even the first agricultural business to advertise ourselves at a sumo match.
As a result, the highest a box sold for was ¥16,000 (around $140) for 16 strawberries. That was at a New Year’s Day auction in 2022.
19. You are always in nature. Do you like vacationing in nature or do you like going to the city? I would go to the ocean if I could go on vacation. The closest beach is 40 minutes away by car from Sanagouchi. Because of my work, though, I can barely take off.
20. What advice would you give amateur strawberry farmers with home gardens? Pluck away flowers so that the few you leave can grow big strawberries. The fewer flowers there are, the bigger the fruit becomes.
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