Aizu Peanuts Japan: The Aizu Peanut Story

What I want to be when I grow up? Business owner.

At age 2o, Kentaro Matsuzaki first started his own company. When handing out his business cards to people he met, they would ask: “What kind of company is it? What do you do?” His reply would always be: “I don’t have any work in particular. Let me know if you have any work for me!” He did not have any particular line of work in mind, but one thing he was sure of: he wanted to do business. From helping with farm work such as weeding, to transportation services to and from hospitals, grocery shopping services, cleaning gravestones, and even attending funerals in someone else’s stead, Matsuzaki did anything. One thing he learned during this time: solving regional problems is a good way to do business.

One of Matsuzaki’s elementary school albums lists his answer to the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” as: “Business owner.”

The hidden history of peanut cultivation in Aizu

Later, Matsuzaki established a company that produced bean-based snacks, but when trying to make a switch to domestically-grown products, he found that good quality peanuts were hard to come by. This was about 13 years ago. “If they’re not available, we can give up on the idea, or grow peanuts ourselves,” Matsuzaki thought. Having always had a soft spot for farming, he chose the latter without hesitation. Farming had always been a difficult trade to start as a newcomer, with several challenges like finding good soil and acquiring the necessary equipment. Nowadays it is much easier to start an agricultural business, making the project feasible.

Peanut-fields near Aga River

Matsuzaki stumbled upon a surprising truth while starting up his peanut farm. For about 10 years since the mid-70s, peanuts had been grown in the Aizu area by contracted farmers. And not just a little: around 100 hectares of peanuts! Fascinated, Matsuzaki inspected documents he found about the cultivation, and met with farmers from that time, who told him all about the peanut farming situation back then. He learned that – because there was no place for the peanuts to be processed in the area – the peanuts would be shipped to factories in Chiba. This way, Aizu-peanuts would find their way to the market, labeled “From Chiba.” Later, it became possible to import cheap peanuts from abroad, which made their market value plummet, and meant the end of peanut farming in Aizu.

Come fall, this is where you can harvest large, delicious peanuts. This is what the leaves look like.

The fact that peanuts had been grown in his own region of Aizu 40 years ago was the most shocking revelation to Matsuzaki. Whether it was pure coincidence or Matsuzaki’s desire that led him to this encounter is open to interpretation. Regardless, it became his drive to help bring life to peanut farming in Aizu once more. In order to tackle his biggest challenges – peanuts as “From Aizu,” buying in peanuts from Aizu at a competitive price, and establishing his own processing factory – he established a new company: Okuya Peanuts Japan Co.Ltd. (now Aizu Peanuts Japan Co.Ltd.).

The story of a peanut salesman: peanuts that Aizu can be proud of worldwide

Nowadays, ‘agriculture and welfare cooperation’ is a common concept in Japan, but this was not yet the case when Matsuzaki started it. About 200 people from welfare facilities, such as people with intellectual disabilities, help peel 200 tons of peanuts by hand. Add 100 contracted farmers and 100 people working for processing companies (including Hayashida Shoten), and you’ve got around 400 local people working together. For Matsuzaki, rather than making a lot of profit for himself, his focus is on making sure the whole community benefits. He is still trying to include more players in the project. This story of a peanut salesman is what will bring peanuts to the limelight as something Aizu can be proud of worldwide. Pay a visit to the center of this new peanut-trade, with this edition of FoodCamp!

Matsuzaki, taking the story of a peanut-salesman to the world stage

Cuisine as a way to make people happy

Chef Koji Inoue grew up cooking together with his mother and grandmother. They taught him many different home recipes, and everyone in his family enjoyed the dishes his own homecooked meals. This experience of making people happy by cooking for them is what led him on the path to becoming a chef.

After high school, Inoue entered a culinary school, where his first encounter with French cuisine made him fall in love for cooking more than ever before. Finding a job at the Koriyama View Hotel, he gained a very wide experience, from its French restaurant, to various international cuisines, catering to wedding parties, and cooking for receptions and banquets. He obtained the national ‘Western Cuisine Chef’-license, and got one of the most important jobs in a hotel kitchen: the saucier, a specialist in charge of soups and sauces. He gained further experience as the main chef for the chairman’s office of the Hoshi General Hospital in Koriyama City. Finally, he returned to his hometown of Kiyakata, where he joined Hashiyada Shoten, a local company specializing in the development and processing of new food products from local ingredients.

Chef Inoue gained invaluable experience as a saucier: a specialist in soups and sauces.

Aizu: a chef’s treasure trove

One thing Chef Inoue learned through the years is that Aizu is a veritable treasure trove of food. With Aizu Traditional Vegetables at the forefront, Aizu’s local culinary culture, with its abundance of unique ingredients, has been passed on through the generations. Aizu’s peanuts is one such ingredient. In other areas, peanuts are harvested multiple times throughout the year. But in Aizu, which turns into snow country every winter, harvesting is only possible once a year. The peanuts planted in spring take their sweet time growing and developing in the nutrition-rich soil and clean water of the Aizu basin, live through the particularly hot valley summer, and stock up on all the nutrition they need by the time they are harvested in autumn. This is what gives peanuts from Aizu their large size, as well as an almost chestnut-like texture, making it outstandingly flavorful, even when simply boiled with a bit of salt. They are exceptional, both in aroma and flavor.

Chef Inoue notes that one of the best features of Aizu is its long period harvesting period from fall to winter, in which many delicious foods can be enjoyed. “Being able to call a place with such abundant delicious food home is a real luxury,” says Inoue; a sentiment he feels strongly both as a chef and personally.

In his spare time, chef Inou often visits farms and mountains, to fulfil his life’s work: discovering all of Aizu’s seasonal foods.

A dream come true: contact with FoodCamp

Funnily enough, Chef Inoue already has FoodCamp-experience! He joined Chef Matsuoka of Restaurant L-Marl several times as an assistant in previous editions. “Chef Matsuoka always comes up with dishes and menus to surprise both producers and guests, and clearly has a good time himself too. I always hoped I’d get the opportunity to serve my food at FoodCamp too. Now that I’m getting that chance, I’m looking forward to it more than anyone!” says the chef. Joining forces with one of the best producers from his own hometown, Kentaro Matsuzaki, he is dedicated to presenting a meal all guests will enjoy.

We are 100% certain that this will be an edition of FoodCamp that will bring out the best of Kitakata’s bountiful autumn!

Wagyu roast beef with a delicious carrot sauce, jam-packed with veggy-goodness.