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Guide Joe
Reinhart
My friends from Hong Kong love Yufuin spring water.
You know, a lot of ingenuity went into the development of Yufuin Cider. |
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Visitor Mamta
Ahuja
We sold a ton of Yufuin Cider at a ryokan in Yufuin where I used to work part-time.
Tell me, why is it so popular? |
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| Yufuin
Cider—it hit the shelves for the first time in 2008, and is now a popular beverage
with a taste you can experience only in Yufuin. In this volume, we’ll hear the
story behind the birth of Yufuin Cider from someone who was intimately involved
in its development. |
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| The Birth of a Local, Environment-Conscious
Cider |
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Today we would like to hear from Mr. Kiichi Tominaga, vice
president of the Yufuin Hot Springs Tourism Association, who has been involved
with Yufuin Cider from its planning through to its development stage. Mr. Tominaga,
thank you for having us today. |
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It’s my pleasure. Thank you for coming. Yufuin Cider is a product invented
last year by the Tourism Association’s Product Development Project. Water used
to make the cider is taken from a natural spring located behind Rokushogu Shrine. |
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There are many natural springs in Yufuin, aren’t there? Did
you decide to make cider because the water here is clean and easy to drink? |
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One motivation behind making this cider was to protect Yufuin’s pristine
natural environment. Up till now we have merely consumed nature’s gifts to us,
so when we thought about what we could to do to protect the environment for the
future, we decided we wanted to make a product that is part of nature’s cycle.
We don’t just drink the natural water because it’s there for us. We also plant
trees with the revenue that comes from customers’ purchases to ensure that even
better water springs up. So we protect nature and life. This desire is what fed
our product development. |
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That’s quite admirable! Nowadays, it’s a hit product among
tourists for being a souvenir gift you can only get your hands on in Yufuin. |
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Thank you. In recent years, candy and other merchandise that have nothing
to do with Yufuin have been sold here, so it was also our intention to somehow
stop this trend by creating what would become a symbol of Yufuin. We wanted to
promote a souvenir from Yufuin that showed evidence of the maker’s hand and had
a narrative element to it. |
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I completely understand. After all, if you sell a product with the name “Yufuin”
on it that people can get anywhere, and that products’ popularity drops, Yufuin’s
popularity will also drop. Where can someone buy Yufuin Cider? |
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It’s only available for purchase in Yufuin, in stores and ryokans that are
affiliates of the Yufuin Hot Springs Tourism Association. There’s no point in
being able to buy it just anywhere. It’s our way of saying, “If you want to drink
one, come to Yufuin.” |
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People in India love carbonated drinks, so I’m sure if you sold Yufuin Cider
in India people would buy lots of it. But it’s also charming that you can’t drink
it unless you go to Yufuin. It must be a secret behind its popularity. |
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| Here we are at the natural spring of Unagihime Shrine
(also called Rokushogu Shrine) located in the south-eastern part of Yufuin basin. |
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| You can purchase Yufuin Cider at ryokans and stores in Yufuin. |
| The bottle’s design was also entirely thought up by members
of the Tourism Association Product Development Project. |
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| Promoting the Yufuin Brand
for the Future |
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Well, let’s have a drink! .... Oh, that’s delicious. It has a delicate sweetness
and acidity, and there’s no aftertaste. I could guzzle this all in one go. |
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You’re right! It’s so easy to drink. Joe, you could take this on your cycling
trips, no? |
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We don’t use any synthetic sweeteners, like fructose or glucose sugars—only
spring water and a little granulated sugar. For tourists who stay the night in
Yufuin, it’s perfect for quenching a thirst after bathing in an onsen, or, because
there is no sticky aftertaste, great for meals in general. |
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Great! I’d like to bring it with me, maybe drink it out in the Tsukahara
grasslands. |
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Actually, besides Yufuin Cider, we also sell Yufuin Mist, a skin toner, and
Yufuin shochu, called, “Yufuin N. Lat. 33,” both of which use Yufuin hot spring
water as ingredients. We are now in the middle of plans to sell eco-bags and
hold concerts, and use the revenue from that to plant trees. The reason we’re
able to live like this is because our predecessors left us a clean natural environment,
and so now we have to pass down a clean Yufuin to our children. |
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Keep up the hard work! I promise I’ll come to Yufuin again someday to drink
more cider. |
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| The green bottle is so cute! |
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| The simple flavor makes it easy to drink. |
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| Taking a break after a walk around town by soaking our feet
in an “ashiyu” bath and drinking a cider. |
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| A group photo with Kiichi Tominaga, vice president of the Yufuin
Hot Springs Tourism Association who taught us many things about Yufuin Cider. |
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| Copyright(c) 2008 Oita Prefecture. All rights reserved. |
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