Fukushima rice popular online

April 5, 2015

Fukushima rice kit enjoys online popularity

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150405p2a00m0na005000c.html

A Fukushima rice kit developed by veteran copywriter Shigesato Itoi and a group of farmers in Fukushima Prefecture is becoming the talk of the town online.

Itoi, editor-in-chief of the website ''Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shimbun'' (Almost daily Itoi newspaper; http://www.1101.com/home.html), has joined forces with the ''Aomushi Club'' (green caterpillar club) led by rice farmer Hiroshi Fujita, 36, of Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, to develop a kit called ''Chiisa na Tanbo Kit'' (small rice paddy kit) to grow the popular Koshihikari brand of rice from Fukushima rice seeds.

The kit went on sale on March 25 and is catching the fancy of a growing number of people, attracting comments on Twitter and other social networking services.

The kit comes with Koshihikari rice seeds that have cleared regulations for radioactive substances, along with fertilized sand, a planter and a manual. The purchasers of the kit will receive additional 3 kilograms of Fukushima rice at the time of harvest.

Itoi and his staff tried their hand at growing rice on the roof of a Tokyo building last year and posted the results online. ''Sunshine and water will do the job,'' they say.

Fujita says it is natural to prioritize safety, and he and other developers want to convey the pleasure of growing rice. They have ensured the safety of their Fukushima rice. The Fukushima Prefectural Government checked about 10.75 million bags of rice harvested in 2014 and all of them showed readings below the national standard of 100 becquerels of radioactive substances per kilogram in the aftermath of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster.

Fujita says he would be happy if producers and consumers can share the same feeling as they watch the rice grow. The kits are being sold online at http://www.1101.com/store/little_tanbo/index.html but numbers are limited. The standard kit is priced at 7,560 yen.

April 05, 2015(Mainichi Japan)