Award-winning Fukushima rice pitched as year-end gift

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Takashimaya Co. department store will market award-winning rice from Fukushima Prefecture, grown with organic fertilizers containing Chinese herbal medicine, and tested for radiation.

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35.680751, 139.773479
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By HARUKA TAKASHIGE / Staff Writer
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By HARUKA TAKASHIGE / Staff Writer
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Award-winning Fukushima rice pitched as year-end gift
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Takashimaya Co. department store will market award-winning rice from Fukushima Prefecture, grown with organic fertilizers containing Chinese herbal medicine, and tested for radiation.

Katsuyuki Furukawa, 54, of Koriyama, has won the top prize at one of the nation's largest rice competitions for five consecutive years with his specially grown "koshihikari" variety.

This year, his rice symbolizes the commitment of farmers in the prefecture, who have struggled with negative publicity after the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

"I cannot thank those who buy my rice enough," said Furukawa, who will attach a certificate for his radiation tests showing that his rice is safe.

Takashimaya has included the rice in a catalog of year-end gifts as one of the items for supporting the Tohoku region, devastated by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake. A five-kilogram bag will sell for 5,565 yen ($71).

It will also be available at stores year-round.

Furukawa does not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers.

His rice from 2010 sold out when Takashimaya offered it at its fair of Tohoku specialties in September. About 50 people ordered his rice to be harvested this year.

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