AOMORI, No. 15 — JA Tsugaru Hirosaki, an agricultural cooperative in Aomori Prefecture, will sell apples in a gift box with globally popular virtual singer Hatsune Miku printed on it.
It is the first time for a farm coop in Japan to collaborate with Hatsune Miku, and JA Tsugaru Hirosaki hopes the move will help boost consumption of apples among younger generations.
The gift box comes with a photograph-like illustration of Hatsune Miku holding an apple
Sun Fuji apples and a gift box with an illustration of virtual singer Hatsune Miku
and smiling against a backdrop of an apple orchard and Mount Iwaki, a mountain located in Aomori Prefecture.
The farm coop’s online shopping website started accepting pre-orders on Nov. 15 for the gift box containing 3 kilograms of Sun Fuji variety apples — roughly nine or 10 — priced at 3,600 yen.
The pre-orders are limited to 2,500 boxes and the farm coop will start shipping them from January next year.
“We would be happy if this offered an opportunity for younger generations to eat apples,” said a JA Tsugaru Hirosaki official. “We hope people of a wide range of generations will buy the boxes, leading to higher consumption of apples.”
The gift boxes are also available at the e-commerce website of Hirosaki Tourism and Convention Association. They will be sold at events held at places including Hirosaki City Apple Park in the city of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture.
The boxes are offered as a return gift to those who make donations to the city of Hirosaki under the furusato nozei hometown tax system that enables taxpayers to donate to municipalities other than their place of residence and receive tax breaks.