Apparently, the “strawberries” once grown in Naruo Village have become famous as “Nirou strawberries.”
※From “Showa-era Nishinomiya City”
From the late Taisho era through the Showa era, strawberry cultivation flourished in Naruo Village.
Many of the fields disappeared due to damage from the 1934 Muroto Typhoon and the requisitioning of farmland as Japan shifted to a wartime footing.
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Where are Nirou strawberries grown now?
The “strawberries” that were grown in Naruo Village.
If they were grown in Naruo Village, maybe they’re still being cultivated somewhere in Naruo, or somewhere else in Nishinomiya today?
Or so you might think, but apparently they’re now grown in Nirou, Arino-cho, Kita Ward, Kobe City.
So “Nirou strawberries” comes from the place name.
Where is Nirou, Arino-cho, Kita Ward, Kobe City?
On the map, it’s around here↓↓
Hmm??
If you look closely, there’s a Nishinomiya place name, “Yamaguchi-cho Narai,” on the map.
Kita Ward in Kobe City and Yamaguchi-cho in Nishinomiya are right next to each other.
Are “Nirou strawberries” really grown in Kobe City?
Could it be, just maybe, that there’s a farm growing Nirou strawberries in Yamaguchi-cho, Nishinomiya too?!
When I googled “Nirou strawberries”…
There they were.
Looking carefully, you can see the border between Nishinomiya City and Kobe City (the gray dotted line) near the lower right of the farms.
The border is close, really close, but…
No hits within Nishinomiya City.
So I decided to look a little more.
※Screenshot from the Kobe City Tourism and Horticulture Association
Whoa!! They’re almost right on the border between Kobe City (pink) and Nishinomiya City (green).
No. ④, “Kaze Farm” and “Ichigo Matsu.”
So close!! They’re so close to Nishinomiya you almost want to call them Nishinomiya.
Hmm!! I had a faint hope that there might be at least one strawberry farm in Yamaguchi-cho, but there weren’t any in Nishinomiya City.
Too bad…
And this was when I finally learned that it’s not “Jirou strawberries,” but “Nirou strawberries.”
That reading is tricky.
Why are “Nirou strawberries” grown in Kobe City?
According to the Kobe City Tourism and Horticulture Association, it all began in the late Taisho era, when seedlings grown in Naruo Village were brought back to Arino-cho, Kita Ward, Kobe City, for trial cultivation.
Because shipping strawberries involved transportation and packaging costs, strawberry picking was introduced in 1956 for the first time in western Japan.
Today, they’ve grown into a top-class brand known as “Nirou strawberries,” with fans both inside and outside Hyogo Prefecture. During strawberry-picking season from January to May, lots of tourists apparently visit Nirou in Arino-cho! (Source)
In Closing
It’s kind of moving to think that the “strawberries” once grown in Naruo Village are still being cultivated today, just in a different place. Unfortunately, they aren’t grown within Nishinomiya City, but somehow it still made me a little happy.
