New Products Created to Save Wakayama “Ume” from Hail Damage

Minabe, Wakayama Pref., Oct. 1 (Jiji Press)–Undeterred by major setbacks that recently befell the famed “Kishu ume,” or plums grown in the western Japan prefecture of Wakayama, “umeboshi” pickled plum makers are working on developing new products using hail-damaged ume. Wakayama has been the biggest ume-producing prefecture in Japan for 60 consecutive years. Last year, however, the prefecture was hit with a record-low ume harvest due to the warm winter and hail damage. The prefecture was again affected by a string of hailstorms this year, with the successive blows to ume crops disheartening many ume farmers. In Wakayama, it hailed for four days in April, a time when plums begin to grow bigger. This caused damage in 4,300 hectares of ume farmland in nine municipalities in southern Wakayama, including scratches and other imperfections on ume surfaces, with total losses reaching about 4.78 billion yen, the worst in the past 10 years. Last year, Wakayama was plagued by ume trees bearing no fruit due to the warm winter before the blossoms bloomed, as well as by hail and insect damage. This caused the ume yield in Wakayama to drop to 29,700 tons, half that of a normal year, according to data compiled by the Japanese agriculture ministry’s Kinki Regional Agricultural Administration Office. “The hail came just when the trees were bearing fruit and our hopes were high that this year would be better,” said an official of JA Kishu Minabeinami agricultural cooperative’s plum group, which is made up of ume farmers from the Wakayama towns of Minabe and Inami. “Although some farmers were resigned to the situation, which was caused by the weather, we still felt like we’d hit rock bottom,” the official said. Amid a poor crop, some companies have adopted a marketing tactic of highlighting hail-damaged ume. Umemizuki, an online umeboshi seller based in Minabe, has started selling “Tekichu Ume,” umeboshi made from hail-hit ume, named after “tekichu,” meaning “hit the mark” in Japanese, as a product meant to bring good fortune. Minabe-based umeboshi manufacturer Nanki Umeboshi renamed its blemished umeboshi products “Maken bai,” or unbeaten ume, in June. Ume can also be read as “bai” in Japanese. The name reflects the company’s passionate belief that the time and effort put into producing such umeboshi make them no less than other umeboshi products, the company said. “While some blemished umeboshi may have scratches or a harder surface, they still taste the same (as other products),” Nanki Umeboshi President Kakuei Hosokawa said, expressing hope that manufacturers’ voices will reach consumers. Some ume farmers are trying to help industry newcomers overcome the adverse situation. Ume Boys, a group of mainly younger ume farmers in Minabe who also sell umeboshi and other products, is buying damaged ume from people who have just started out as ume farmers at the same price as top-quality ume. Shoshiro Yamamoto, who heads the group, said that prices of scratched ume are half those of ume without such blemishes. “We started this program in hopes of protecting (ume farming), as there is a risk of new farmers quitting as they can’t make a living,” he said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]