Note: This article was published in Kuensel, Bhutan's most read daily newspaper, on Saturday, 10 May 2025 (Link: https://kuenselonline.com/news/kito-yuzu-a-small-japanese-villages-gift-to-the-world ). However, you can see more pictures of my visit to Kito in my blog here.
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January 2025 brought me an extraordinary gift — a journey back to my second home, Tokushima. When my friend Teruhide Sato, CEO of BeeNext, invited me to join the Uzushio Journey Tokushima tour, my heart leapt. I readily accepted the invitation and joined the tour in my personal capacity (not as an RCSC official).
This was more than just an economic revitalization workshop; it was a pilgrimage to the place that had nurtured and shaped me. Tokushima, where I spent five and a half years as a student (2005–2010), is etched into my soul. The chance to return, reconnect with old friends, and contribute to its future was something I simply couldn’t refuse.
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| Participants of the Uzushio Journey Tokushima Tour on the way to Kito Village from Tokushima City. In front is Mr Teruhide Sato followed by Mr Yasushi Fujita and me. |
The tour was a tapestry of inspiring encounters — from the mystical beauty of the Iya Valley, and the dynamic discussions at the first ever Tokushima City Uzushio Summit, to the innovative Kamiyama TVET College (Kamiyama Marugoto Kosen), the first technical high school and college in Japan to teach technology, design, and entrepreneurship through a collaboration between private companies, entrepreneurs, and local administration. Students there are selected from all around Japan based on merit and awarded full scholarships by the private companies that built the college. Isn’t that amazing? Yet nothing moved me as deeply as our visit to Kito Village.
There, amid rugged mountains and whispering forests, I felt something rare: the pulse of a community with a rich history, strong culture, and a deep optimism for the future, despite its remote location and economic challenges.
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| One of the hamlets in Kito Village. You can see yuzu orchard in the foreground. |
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| Mountains surrounding Kito village as seen from the now-abandoned Semitani hamlet which is located at a higher altitude. A project is being conceptualized to revive this hamlet as a Centre for yoga and well-being. |
Guiding us through this hidden gem was none other than Kito’s proud son, Mr. Yasushi Fujita, CEO of Media Do and a driving force behind the tour. His passion for his village and kinsmen was contagious, his vision luminous.
Fujita comes from a long line of village leaders in Kito. His father, Kentaro Fujita, who dedicated his entire life to the community's upliftment, was one of the pioneers who introduced Kito yuzu to the world. His mother is in her 80s now, but still very active, sharp and ever ready to lend a helping hand to a neighbour or an outsider visiting the village.
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| Mr. Yasushi Fujita, Kito's son of the soil, in the middle, with his age-old family shrine (Jinja) in the background. |
Spending a night in Kito Village’s very own modern guesthouse with a traditional touch called the “Next Chapter” set up by none other than Yasushi Fujita himself, listening firsthand to stories of his childhood and youth in Kito directly from Yasushi Fujita, and reading about how passion and perseverance brought Kito yuzu into global recognition in the book "Going for Gold – How a Mountain Village Brought Yuzu to the World," left an indelible mark on me. I knew I had to share this incredible story.
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| "Going for Gold", the book that shares the story of not only the success of Kito yuzu, but also the story of the challenges a small mountain village faced in the face of rapidly changing national and international development landscape. |
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| Kito yuzu ready for harvest in late October. Picture by Ms Mayu Hara, Media Do. |
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| NISHIU de repos, a community centre built by Yasushi Fujita in Kito Village. With me in the picture is Mr Yoshihiro Ogino of Workshop Miro, the architect who designed the centre. The architecture of this building - both external design and its interiors is breathtaking. It is so modern, yet traditional. See its more detailed pictures here: https://www.wooddesign.jp/db/production/2156/ |
The Yuzu Pioneers: A Story of Grit and Hope in Kito
The Showa era (1926–1989), under Emperor Showa’s reign, brought waves of change across Japan — an economic miracle that filled homes with washing machines, refrigerators, and motor vehicles rumbling down newly paved roads.Yet in the misty mountains of Tokushima, the small village of Kito struggled to keep pace.
While cities thrived, Kito’s people faced an uncertain future. People here relied on logging and construction for their livelihood even as the cities progressed exponentially - industries that were clearly unsustainable. The central government encouraged rice cultivation, but Kito’s rugged terrain yielded little rice.
In 1960, Mr. Hiroshi Usuki, a 26-year-old agricultural officer, was posted to Kito. There, he met Mr. Kentaro Fujita, a passionate local of similar age, Mr. Sogawa, another committed villager, and a few other like-minded individuals. Together, they sought a way to bring sustainable economic prosperity to the village — a way to keep people from abandoning their homes for the bright lights of the city.
They found hope growing wild on their hillsides: yuzu — a tart, fragrant citrus fruit. Yuzu was a sought after fruit among certain social circles in Japan, but its production was scarce. “If yuzu had been growing wild in Kito for such a long time, this land must be naturally suitable for its growth”, they thought. But there was a problem. Left to nature, yuzu trees took 18 long years to bear fruit. How could a village on the brink wait nearly two decades?
The answer came through sheer human will. Under the guidance of Usuki, farmers like Sogawa and Fujita spent years grafting shoots, experimenting with rootstocks, and nursing saplings through harsh winters. It was not easy — it required Japanese grit and perseverance.
Failure after failure followed, but they refused to give up.Finally, a breakthrough: by grafting yuzu onto hardier citrus bases, they coaxed the trees to bear fruit in just three years. It was a miracle of perseverance.
Their foresight was prophetic. As predicted, the logging and construction industries collapsed under the pressure of cheap timber imports and declining demand. Young people were attracted to bustling cities. Without a new path, Kito risked fading away.
But thanks to Kito yuzu, the village’s fate began to change. The humble fruit became more than a crop — it became a lifeline, a reason for the next generation to stay. The pioneers who bent nature to their will proved that even in forgotten places, hope could take root.
Within the so-called Fruit Study Group led by Mr. Sogawa, which championed yuzu cultivation research, Kito’s yuzu production exceeded 120 metric tonnes by 1973, accompanied by brisk sales of yuzu juice and yuzu miso.
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| Tasting yuzu nectar in Kito. Mr Yasushi Fujita explains how each kind of juice is different based on how long the fruit was kept before squeezing the juice out of it. |
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| Picture showing how yuzu juice used to be squeezed out in the past. |
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| A modern yuzu juice factory in Kito |
Farmers across Japan began talking about Kito yuzu.
Of course, yuzu grew in other places like Okutama (Tokyo), Moroyama (Saitama), and nearby Kochi Prefecture. But Kito was the only place attempting large-scale production without sacrificing quality — and they succeeded brilliantly.
In 1977, the Kito Fruit Study Group won the prestigious Asahi Agriculture Prize. Since then, Kito yuzu has remained Japan’s top yuzu — in both name and fact.
Kito’s farmers "were careful not to squander their hard-earned reputation in pursuit of easy profit, instead prioritizing quality by continuing to research ways to maintain and improve the calibre of their fruit" (Going for Gold, p. 103). At the same time, they generously shared their hard-won knowledge with farmers across Japan. Yet Kito yuzu remained the most sought-after, consistently fetching premium prices. By 1980, Kito’s yuzu sales had reached 120 million yen, with farmers achieving profits close to double the ten-thousand-yen-per-tree goal that Kentaro Fujita had long dreamed of.
As the Showa era drew to a close in the late 1980s, 218 towns and villages across 44 prefectures were producing nearly 10,000 metric tonnes of yuzu annually. The fruit had become a Japanese specialty, and demand from countries like France was beginning to rise.
Kito Yuzu was officially granted the Geographical Indication (GI) mark on September 15, 2017, recognizing it as a unique regional product from Tokushima Prefecture. The GI status protects "Kito Yuzu" - meaning only yuzu grown in Kito’s soil, carrying its special aroma and flavor, can bear the name.
During my visit to Kito this year, I was thrilled to see yuzu cultivation still flourishing.
Today, Kito yuzu is not only used in traditional foods but also in modern products like hand sanitizers — all infused with its distinctive fragrance.
When the world savors yuzu’s bright flavor, it tastes the sweat and determination of a village that refused to vanish without a fight.
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| Unagizushi with yuzu flavoring we tried for dinner at Kito. |
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| Tasting Kito yuzu flavored high end pastries at the cafe PRISM in Tokushima |
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| Some sampling of products made with yuzu that Mr Yasushi Fujita so generously gave us to try. It was very touching to listen to Mr Fujita explaining about these products so passionately. He is indeed a true son of Kito. |
A Legacy of Resilience and Community
The story of Kito and its yuzu is more than an agricultural success — it’s a testament to the power of community and vision. Faced with economic decline and isolation, the villagers could have abandoned their land in search of better opportunities elsewhere. Instead, they chose to innovate — turning a wild, slow-growing fruit into a thriving industry that sustains their home.
Kito’s legacy lives on every time a chef grates yuzu zest over a dish or a bartender crafts a yuzu-infused cocktail. The village’s gift to the world is a reminder that even the smallest places can leave an outsized impact when people work together with creativity and determination.
In a world that often overlooks rural communities, Kito stands as an inspiring example of how tradition, innovation, and perseverance can create something truly extraordinary.
Leaving Kito, I carried more than memories. I carried a renewed belief in what love for one’s homeland can achieve. In Mr. Yasushi Fujita’s tireless dedication, and in the villagers’ quiet strength, I saw the essence of community — not just surviving, but thriving against all odds.
Tokushima had given me so much in my youth. Now, it had given me something more: a reminder that the truest innovations are born not just from ideas, but from devotion to the people and places we call home. May
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| Me near a yuzu tree in Kito in January 2025. |
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| In front of the guest house "Next Chapter" in Kito |
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| Mirai Combini, another project of Mr Yasushi Fujita, on the way to Kito. It is a convenience store that has won multiple design awards. See more about it here: https://mirai-cvs.jp/en/ |
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| Camp Park Kito, another project by Mr Yasushi Fujita, aimed at revitalizing the local economy. |
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