Promoting durian in Japan

Promoting durian in Japan

The durian is known as the “King of Fruits”. With its rich custard-like taste and various benefits, durian has a very high potential as a luxury item, and its global demand is currently growing rapidly. On the other hand, in Japan, despite the name “king,” it is not a royal road to success. In fact, due to its thorn-covered appearance and strong scent, very few people have a catchy image of durian, and due to the low distribution of durian itself, it is rare to even see it. There is a famous saying among durian lovers that “if you eat durian three times, you will fall in love with it,” but it is extremely rare for people living in Japan to have contact with durian more than three times. However, it is extremely rare for people living in Japan to have contact with durian more than three times. In this situation, we, the Japan Durian Promotion Association, are conducting an educational campaign to spread awareness of durian in Japan. In order to convey the charm of durian, which cannot be fully conveyed in words, to the people of Japan, we will create opportunities for people to actually experience durian through events.

Outline of Activities

1) Holding study sessions and events to improve the image of durian
2) Organizing durian sweets and durian tasting events
3) Research to improve durian quality
4) Research on the domestic cultivation of durian
5) Research on the health-promoting effects of durian
6) Activities to achieve the objectives of the association

Prospectus for the Establishment of the Association

Durian is not well known in Japan, but often associated only with its smell. In fact, freshly picked and fully ripe durian is a rich and extremely delicious fruit. We would like to increase the number of durian fans in Japan by providing　opportunities for people in Japan to try the truly delicious durian and by educating people to change the Japanese image of durian in a positive direction. The durian is native to Malaysia and is cultivated in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and other countries in Southeast Asia. In the past decade, the consumption of durian in China has been remarkable, and in 2019, the import value of fresh durian fruit exceeded 1.7 billion dollars, making China the number one imported fruit in terms of both value and quantity. In this situation, we aim to eliminate the image of durian as a fruit used as a stinky punishment game as much as possible, and to increase opportunities for people in Asia to interact with each other on the topic of durian, and for those who see business opportunities in the size of the durian market to create durian-related products and sell them in China through the activities of our association. One of our objectives is to increase the number of opportunities for people who see the size of the durian market as a business opportunity to create and sell durian-related products in China. Japanese sweets are becoming more and more popular in Asian countries. Matcha (powdered green tea) sweets, which used to be known only to Japanese people, are now known worldwide as Matcha. Under such circumstances, the market for durian-related sweets continues to expand in Southeast Asia and China. I hope that this will lead to the opportunity for Japanese durian sweets to become very popular in Southeast Asia. In Japan, there are many agricultural products that are originally from the south. In Japan, there are many southern crops, which have been repeatedly bred and improved to suit the Japanese climate, producing products of much better quality than the original species. Durian is a southern fruit tree that cannot be grown in areas where the minimum temperature is below 15℃. At present, it is difficult to grow durian in Japan, but our association would like to conduct research on the cultivation of durian in Japan. In addition, Japan has excellent fruit preservation and transportation technologies. We would like to utilize this technology to conduct research on preserving and transporting durian to maintain its freshness. Durian is rich in folic acid, which is said to be good for fertility and health maintenance, and it also contains spermidine, which is said to have a rejuvenating effect. We would like to conduct research on the anti-aging and other health-promoting effects of durian. The association will continue to operate as a non-profit organization that contributes to society.

List of directors

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