Bountiful harvest for Trini grape farmer in Japan

A Trinidadian growing grapes in Japan has been dubbed “the rarest man in Japan,” by an African-American influencer who featured the farmer in a one-minute video shared on Instragram.

Kawaii Coco's feature on 62-year-old Franklyn Hutchinson has been viewed by over 15,000 views after it was posted in early October.

In her video, the creator described Hutchinson as “rare” as he is the first Trinidadian grape farmer in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

Within hours of the post, Hutchinson’s Rosey Grapes Instagram account had amassed thousands of new followers, going from about 2,000 to over 15,000. The original post by Kawaii Coco got over 95,000 views.

The influencer praised Hutchinson for transforming a previously abandoned plot of farmland into a thriving grape farm in under three years and encouraged her followers to support his business by placing orders and visiting the farm for tours.

In a phone interview with Newsday, Hutchinson and his wife, Megumi Fukuda, spoke about their lives in Yamanashi and what led them to a career in grape farming.

“I didn’t know my husband had so many nieces in Trinidad,” said Fukuda. “Everyone (on Instagram) calls him 'uncle.'”

Hutchinson said his wife initially contacted the influencer to send some grapes to her as a gift for being supportive of black business owners in Japan.

Her page, which has over 273,000 followers on Instagram, explores her life in Japan, places to visit and activities tourists can enjoy. She has also featured several black-owned businesses in Japan, mostly in and around Tokyo, including a kimono instructor, a baker and a Caribbean restaurant owner.

Hutchinson said after his wife reached out to the influencer, to their surprise, she asked to visit and tour their farm. He said while he is grateful for the attention her post has brought to their business, he feels like a “bimbo celebrity.” A "bimbo celebrity" is a Japanese term that means a famous person with no money.

“People are just surprised to know that I’m here (in Japan).

"Now, so many people want to buy my grapes, but with the amount of grapes we harvested this year, we could only supply so much. We had to turn people away.”

Soon after the video, Hutchinson was thrilled to host another Trinidadian living in Japan who was accompanied by a father and daughter from Tanzania. He said, until then, he had not met anyone else from home in 29 years.

Originally from Diamond Village, San Fernando, Hutchinson was not always a farmer. In fact, he said it was his love of grapes that led him in search of the Shine Muscat grapes the area is known for.

“Yamanashi is the number one area (in Japan) for grapes. The weather is good for grape farming. It is mostly hills and valleys. If you look at Yamanashi…you’re in a basin, surrounded by only mountains. You would not guess that from the name.”

Yama in Japanese means mountain and nashi is the name of a wild Japanese pear. However, the word nashi carries another meaning in Japanese: it's commonly used as “nothing” or “none of,” leading many people to believe incorrectly the name of the area means “no mountains.”

Hutchinson said one day in 2019, he and his wife went in search of grapes to buy and got lost.

“We ended up on a little road and I saw a guy packing grapes. I love grapes; they are my favourite fruit. We stopped and I asked to buy some.”

He said he and the grape farmer started a conversation and Hutchinson expressed his interest in grape farming. “(The farmer) said, ‘Look for land and I will teach you’…It took me three years to start looking.”

Hutchinson said in 2022, after being a regular customer of the grape farmer, he and his wife decided to make their dream a reality and began the search for a plot of land to work. He said their decision was prompted by the destruction of their kitchen garden at home, which they had to give up to make way for road construction in their area. He said this move happened around grape season, reviving their idea of starting a farm.

“We went to the city office and we investigated farmland in the area.”

There, they met someone who took them to a spot they eventually secured, but the plot was not big enough.

While cleaning the land, which was overrun with bush, as it had not been maintained by the previous owners, they discovered more available land in the surrounding area.

“We are renting space from four people, but it all looks like one space.”

Hutchinson said he and his wife, with the help of the grape farmer, got to work right away, but grapes take a long time to mature before they can be harvested.

“In the first and second year, you cannot harvest. In the third year, which we are in, you can harvest a fair amount. Next year will be the fourth year, so we will look to expand.But there are (many) restrictions on shipping fruits in Japan.”

He said they are currently only able to ship within Japan, but he has many interested buyers from other countries, including Canada and America. He said he would also love to be able to supply his product to people back home in TT.

“Not only for the money. I want my nieces down here to taste the grapes.

“The grapes we have in TT, that’s all we know – but if people taste this, they will want to know what (on earth) they were eating before.”

Shine Muscat grapes are described as having a sweet, floral flavour and have been compared to fruits like apricot and mandarin, with notes of honey. The grapes, slightly bigger than the Concord and green grapes sold in TT, at full maturity can grow to the size of a ping-pong ball, Hutchinson said, which is what they are expecting for next year’s harvest.

Hutchinson, who has lived in Yamanashi for 29 years, says in addition to offering tours of his farm during grape season – between mid-August and the end of September – he would also like to provide off-season tour services around the area in future.

Yamanashi is most famous for viewing Mt Fuji, as the prefecture sits at the base of Japan’s signature mountain. It is also the site of Fuji-Q Highland, a popular amusement park near the mountain, also popular for its views of Mt Fuji, especially in the winter. Aokigahara Forest, also known as “the sea of trees,” can also be found in Yamanashi.

Hutchinson said he would also love to expand his business in the future to include grape products, such as wine. He and his wife also maintain a garden on the property, growing pimentos, ginger, turmeric, and, occasionally, sorrel.

He said the property is surrounded by roses, which inspired the name of the business.

Hutchinson can be found on Instagram by the name rosey_grapes_yamanashi.