Amidst the heat, where the cicadas' chirping sounds like a scream, I visited "JA Ibaraki Asahi-mura Special Product Direct Sales Store, Sun Green Asahi" today. Their slogan is, "Delivering deliciousness, safety, and peace of mind directly to customers from the land of sun and greenery." Hokota City is one of Japan's leading "agricultural kingdoms," and with today's weather and the store's name matching so well, my expectations were high.
Watermelons greeted me even before entering the store. The green and red of watermelons are complementary colors, which makes each other stand out. At a direct sales store, your sight is stimulated, allowing you to enjoy with all five senses.
Inside the store, colorful vegetables are lined up, further stimulating the five senses. This time, let's visually enjoy the manager's recommended products for this season.
Entry No. 1: "Long Green Onions." A gradient from green to white. I get sunburned, but do vegetables get sunburned?
Entry No. 2: "Bell Peppers." Red, yellow, orange. They're so vibrantly colored. Warm colors excite the heart.
Entry No. 3: "Earl's Melon." Hokota City's melons are Japan's best in terms of both production value and quality. Once you fix your eyes on the melon's netting and delve in, it's an inescapable labyrinth. The netting on these seemingly ordinary melons is actually a cork-like scab formed to seal cracks and wounds.
The history of JA Ibaraki Asahi-mura melons began around 1963 when a few farmers started cultivating Prince melons. Their history is indeed deep. Furthermore, in 2004, a light sensor sorting system was introduced. This light sensor is a major feature of the JA Ibaraki Asahi-mura Melon Association, ensuring consistent quality without fail by measuring the melon's sugar content, ripeness, size, and appearance simultaneously. It's truly impressive that melons with less than 12 degrees Brix are not shipped. If I were a melon, I'd probably be rejected during the visual inspection before the light sensor.
I tried the limited-time soft-serve ice cream with melon pulp at the food stand. As I ate, I found chunks of melon inside the cone as well. What a surprise! Being able to eat it right there is also a great appeal.
One of the attractions of direct sales stores is the opportunity for consumers to fully engage all five senses. Moreover, popular specialty products always carry the history and passion of producers' extraordinary efforts to achieve them. Visiting direct sales stores while unraveling their history might also be an interesting experience.
Indeed, a direct sales store is a microcosm of the region.
Text and Photos: Sekiguchi (Regional Collaboration Team)
JA Ibaraki Asahi-mura Special Product Direct Sales Store Sun Green Asahi
602-6 Momiyama, Hokota City, Ibaraki Prefecture
TEL 0291-37-4147