| YAMAGATA, Sep. 29 – In Oe City, Yamagata Prefecture, there is an art craft called Momono-mi Kogeihin, made from peach seeds thrown away at local canned fruit plants. It’s one of the town and prefecture’s thank-you gifts for hometown tax programs.
The local specialty items are produced at a local studio called Momono-mi Kobo (Peach Seeds Studio). According to Noriyasu Kamoda, the studio’s 70-year-old owner, the craft is one of a kind in Japan. The studio purchases peach seeds from a local canned fruit factory in Sagae City, Yamagata Prefecture, which makes canned peach from the fruits grown in Yamagata. The seeds are washed and dried for about eight years, split into half using a hammer, and cut into 1.4-centimeter rectangles using a circular saw. Then, they are glued together to make decorative materials. The materials are pasted together, polished carefully, and processed into trays, plates, and tea canisters. The products are unique, as their patterns and colors are different. Teisaku Kamoda, Noriyasu Kamoda’s late father, made the first peach seed tea canister in 1996. Teisaku thought he could make something good using the seeds thrown away at the local canned peach plant. “The more you use it, the glossier it turns. Please enjoy the color change,” Noriyasu said.  Noriyasu Kamoda has made art crafts from peach seeds for 50 years. (In Oe Town, Yamagata Prefecture) |