Growing Tasty Shiny Jewels
On this episode, we head to Mitoyo in Kagawa Prefecture to meet French-native Jérôme Rupp who grows Shine Muscats, a variety of high-end grapes born in Japan. Cultivating the luxury fruit is painstaking work that requires meticulous care. After training under a mentor, Jerome finally harvested his first grapes. However, some of them had been damaged by a typhoon. How will the fruit of his labor fare next season? (This program was broadcast on February 7, 2023.)
French-native Jérôme Rupp set up his plantation five years ago. In 2021, he harvested grapes for the very first time.
Jérôme learned the art of cultivating grapes from his mentor, Yano Yasue.
Jérôme's family runs a local sweets shop. With harvest season around the corner, Jérôme has little time to spend with his family.
As the town lacks young workers and farmers are aging, Jérôme is responsible for the expectations of the community.