Harvesting work has begun in earnest in the town of Toyoura in central Hokkaido, where strawberry production thrives. At ‘Ichigo Bunko’, a regional industrial co-operation base facility in the Ohkishi district of the town, fresh strawberries are being picked by Hoshi Yusuke and his wife Akiko, who are ‘local vitalization cooperators’ aiming to become independent strawberry farmers.

　Hoshi cultivates a variety of strawberry known as Kentaro – known for its fresh sweetness – in two 350-m2 greenhouses in the grounds of the facility. Harvesting began on April 23, when the fruit began to turn red. On the first day, 20 boxes (approximately 20 kg) were harvested by hand. The harvested strawberries will appear on shelves in supermarkets and the like in central Hokkaido until around the end of June.
The shipment of Toyoura’s strawberries usually reaches its peak around June each year.