Born and raised in Sanagouchi, a tight-knit farm village in Tokushima Prefecture, Masafumi Kurisaka, 50, spent seven years at a major Japanese industrial and engineering corporation in Osaka. He left to carry on the family strawberry business. Now, 25 years later, he is the owner of Japan¡¯s first luxury line of strawberries, a brand called Sakura Momo Ichigo, and head of the Strawberry Division at Tokushima City¡¯s Japan Agricultural Cooperative.
1. Can you describe yourself in three words? ¡°Cheerful¡± is the first one. The second is ¡°red,¡± as in I¡¯m burning with passion for my strawberries. Lastly, ¡°strawberry,¡± because I need to think as though I am one of my strawberries to know if they are thirsty or too cold.
2. What made you quit your corporate job and switch to farming? I had begun to doubt the way the corporation operated. At the same time, my father¡¯s strawberries, called Momo Ichigo, were taking off. I thought the timing was right to carry on the family business.
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