A Sendai couple moved to the tiny village of 1,000 people in the Oku-Aizu district in western Fukushima Prefecture in April last year. Elderly people aged 65 or older account for half of the residents of the Showa village, which is so small that it has no convenience store.
Yutaka Sasaki, 34, and his wife, Yui, 33, were attracted by the lure of baby's breath flowers and made their debut as growers earlier this spring. "I am feeling so excited," Yutaka said with beaming eyes.
Growers of the flowers in Showa are hoping to excite buyers overseas as well. Floricultural products, including "Royal Blue" Japanese gentians, dahlia varieties with big flowers, and midwinter cherry blossoms being exported from the Tohoku region, are already delighting people in other parts of the world.
Growers in the production areas have created original transportation and freshness preservation methods during their efforts to expand their sales channels. Baby's breath flowers could be the next to join the list of Tohoku exports.
Read more at asahi.com