What it takes to grow the brilliant red Amaou
Amaou Strawberries are noted for a bursting sweetness and juicy flavor.
This brand-name strawberry took eight years for Fukuoka to develop.
Amaou Strawberries are one fruit that is the result of local passion and commitment.
It was amazing to see how people doted on the strawberries like they would their own children.
Red, round, large, and delicious! Amaou Strawberries tick all the checkboxes for a great fruit.
The name Amaou is an acronym for the words “aka,” “marui,” “ookii,” and “umai,” which respectively mean, “red,” “round,” “large,” and “delicious.” The name was actually decided by a public vote throughout Fukuoka Prefecture. Many strawberries are given “cute” names, but the Amaou deliberately avoids this, opting for a bold name.
It took eight years to properly develop the Amaou Strawberry. It has now been fourteen years since it became a national favorite.
The Amaou Strawberry took a whole eight years, starting in 1996, to be developed. Each different strain of strawberries requires different cultivation methods, from the amount of water provided to when to cover them with tarps. It is for that reason that it took considerable trial and error for the local farmers to devise the best approach to Amaou. It has now been fourteen years since Amaou hit the market and became a national sensation.
A moderate tart note amid the sweetness. So juicy!
Amaou Strawberries are as delicious to eat as they are to look at. The large and round form of these glossy red fruits has been drawn out to the fullest. Furthermore, their flavor is not just sweet, but slightly tart, and they bring out the natural juiciness for which strawberries are known. Another feature is that their flavor comes out fully when made into sweets.
The Amaou Strawberries for which Fukuoka is proud of are a unique, one-of-a-kind strawberry.
I spoke to Shota Murozono, the freshest face in Amaou farming in Yame.
He is just twenty-three years old and has taken on the family business in production of Amaou Strawberries. Mr. Murozono grow up watching his father farm and took it upon himself of his own volition to join the business.
Mr. Murozono says his parents never once asked him to shoulder the family business. When he told them he wanted to become a strawberry farmer, his father merely warned, “It ain’t easy.” However, seeing the way his parents worked, he naturally developed an interest in strawberry farming and this cemented his decision. He now operates the family farm at the young age of twenty-three.
He says he only realized the significance of Amaou Strawberries once he first started farming. His father never forced the issue on him, knowing that he would not want to do it until he himself had the conviction.
Creating even better Amaou Strawberries. His goal is coming into his own as a farmer!
He says he is still in the learning phase. Mr. Murozono is humble about it, saying he owes it all to the help of his mother and her colleagues.
“I am the youngest Amaou farmer in Yame. So I feel I have to grow and come into my own as soon as possible.”
Mr. Murozono also said he wants to become the top strawberry farmer. He says he is trying to find what is the unique thing that only he can bring to the table.
With the environment changing every year, it is truly a challenge to produce consistently high-quality Amaou Strawberries year in and year out. For that reason, Mr. Murozono said it is important to constantly consider what steps to take next and study what others are doing while working with them.
In contrast to his passion on the subject, he was extremely gentle in handling the strawberries with love and affection. I could tell that the quality of Amaou is owed to the enthusiasm and love that the farmers dote on these berries.
Seedling development
Strawberry cultivation begins by producing the seedlings.
Parent plants are used to create new seedlings between April and May.
Flowering
Amaou Strawberries have four key blooming phases. White flowers bloom between the first and fourth phase.
Harvest
Each one is harvested by hand in order to ensure that they are not damaged. The stems are grasped and pulled outward towards the fruit.
Planting
The new seedlings are planted on slightly elevated ground. Ensuring that they do not grow too large allows for producing a regular crop.
Another step is covering them with tarps.
Bearing fruit
When the flowers fall away and the fruit swells, the plants shift from white to green, then bright red.
What makes Amaou Strawberries different from other types is their large and round shape.
Amaou Strawberries grown in greenhouses may seem to be protected from external harm, but they are actually exceedingly challenging to manage.
Right after the planting season is when typhoons come to Fukuoka. These greenhouses must thus be protected from typhoons and tornadoes.
The temperature is also regulated each year to adjust for variation. It is not simply enough for the greenhouse to be warm. If it is too warm, the strawberries are at a greater risk of developing illness.
Proper management of the greenhouses dictates the size and flavor of the strawberries that year.
The Amaou are so delicate that they must be harvested by hand!
While agriculture is increasingly automated today, Amaou Strawberries are still hand-picked. Mr. Dan of JA Fukuoka Yame says that the Amaou are like time-consuming children: they must given care and attention all the way through to shipment.
Amaou Strawberries are gentle and sensitive to shocks, so they must be picked right from the stem without touching the fruit. Veterans work with amazing speed, almost too fast to follow!!?
Like beginners every time
The Amaou are greatly subject to the vagaries of weather and climate. Even veteran farmers say that they feel like freshmen each year, facing the ask anew. Because the strawberries can be disturbed by typhoons, tsunami, and other natural phenomena, the farmers must come together each day to raise them with care. These fruits are truly like cloistered children who have been doted on all their lives!
Just one bite of Amaou Strawberries will put a huge smile on your face!
From the time the seedlings are developed on through to shipment, Amaou Strawberries are the result of intense labor by the farmers. They are in season from December through May.
Amaou Strawberries are chock-full of local Fukuoka passion and are juicy, sweet, plump, round, and large.
Amaou Strawberries put smiles on locals’ faces
Loves strawberries -- once she starts, she can’t stop.
I’m on a journey to find the local passion that goes into these oversized Amaou!
I love fruit so much that I eat it daily! This is my first visit to Fukuoka.
I am so excited about all of the encounters and delicious discoveries I will make!
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