Tokuyama chili peppers

AJ Drew · May 21, 2016

I have no clue what the pepper is like, but the story is fantastic. Evidently, there was a landrace in Tokuyama, Japan which was nearly destroyed when the residents and farmers were moved to make way for a reservoir build. But today, it is part of the effort to bring notoriety to the town. Now they are trying to promote the area with its unique pepper.

Seems like if they made the seed stock available to people like me who obsess about weird things in our grows, they could promote the heck out things.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201605200007.html

AJ Drew · May 21, 2016

More...https://www.insidejapantours.com/japan-news/3977/long-lost-fiery-chilli-making-a-resurgence-in-gifu-prefecture/

primal13 · May 21, 2016

That's a cool little read. As well as a good lesson. Don't eat chilli's you are not familiar with.lol

I would grow them in a heart beat.

spicefreak · May 22, 2016

Someone has to eat them, otherwise how would anyone become familiar?
Spiciest in Japan doesn't necessarily mean a great deal but I'd still be interested. If they've been an isolated strain for that long then I would think it likely that they'd have some flavour traits we don't see in the west's hottest.

Student of Spice · May 22, 2016

Thank you for sharing this, I always enjoy reading the back stories and learning about the history of things like this

AJ Drew · May 22, 2016

Spicefreak, I dunno about the whole spiciest in Japan doesnt mean much. Have been really surprised by some of the stuff from sushi bars.

Jase4224 · May 23, 2016

Would be very interested in growing/tasting these

spicefreak · May 23, 2016

ajdrew said:
Spicefreak, I dunno about the whole spiciest in Japan doesnt mean much. Have been really surprised by some of the stuff from sushi bars.

I'm fairly certain Japan has no native supers and the hottest thing used in any of their cooking seems to be Ghost. If we are to assume that "spiciest pepper in Japan" means "spiciest pepper native to Japan" then the next runner up is a yellow pepper that's a bit hotter than a Hab. As such, the bar for "spiciest in Japan" is set a damn sight lower than "world's hottest" but, of course, this could still surprise us and be an isolated instance of that super mutation or something.

Jase4224 · May 23, 2016

spicefreak said:
the next runner up is a yellow pepper that's a bit hotter than a Hab.

What is this yellow pepper you speak of?

spicefreak · May 23, 2016

Jase4224 said:
What is this yellow pepper you speak of?

I can't garuntee it is actually the next hottest but popular belief says that it's the "Ogon" pepper which, given that its name is litterally just a colour descriptor (roughly translates to "golden"), could be just about anything.
From what I can tell, the standard japanese name for a chilli is "Togarashi" but it doesn't apply when the pepper doesn't ripen to red (Shishitos are Togarashi despite being picked green). Sorry I have nothing more concrete.

Jase4224 · May 24, 2016

Couldn't find anymore info on google either. There must still be so many land race peppers we've never even seen..

Phator · Feb 1, 2018

AJ Drew said:
I have no clue what the pepper is like, but the story is fantastic. Evidently, there was a landrace in Tokuyama, Japan which was nearly destroyed when the residents and farmers were moved to make way for a reservoir build. But today, it is part of the effort to bring notoriety to the town. Now they are trying to promote the area with its unique pepper.

Seems like if they made the seed stock available to people like me who obsess about weird things in our grows, they could promote the heck out things.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201605200007.html

AJ Drew. I saw this post and got interested in finding this pepper. My wife (Japanese) found the farmer that grows them. she spoke to him on the phone and found we can drive down and get some seeds. I'll try to grow these this year and keep back seeds. Are these something you would be interested in growing? id be able to send some seeds your way for sure.

spicefreak · Feb 2, 2018

I would certainly be very interested.

Phator · Feb 3, 2018

Well I did it. Tracked these babies down about 5 hours through the mountains. They are from the farmer in the article himself. I ended up buying the last of the harvest, about 100 pods. I will try to germinate this week. If the seeds are good I’d be happy to share the glory. By the way I tried one pepper on they way home. It was definitely not like any pepper I’ve had. At this point I’d say the hottest in Japan. Although there is another hidden gem pepper I’m hunting down that I have been told is on par with a Trinidad scorpion. But more on that when I actually find it.

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Jase4224 · Feb 3, 2018

Well done Phator I envy your adventure! Would love to go to Japan. Hows the flavour?

Phator · Feb 3, 2018

Jase4224 said:
Well done Phator I envy your adventure! Would love to go to Japan. Hows the flavour?

I really couldn’t describe the flavor. But it was hot! They are dry since it’s winter here. I can’t wait to try some fresh ones this summer

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jedisushi06 · Feb 3, 2018

AJ Drew said:
I have no clue what the pepper is like, but the story is fantastic. Evidently, there was a landrace in Tokuyama, Japan which was nearly destroyed when the residents and farmers were moved to make way for a reservoir build. But today, it is part of the effort to bring notoriety to the town. Now they are trying to promote the area with its unique pepper.

Seems like if they made the seed stock available to people like me who obsess about weird things in our grows, they could promote the heck out things.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201605200007.html

page not found.

jedisushi06 · Feb 3, 2018

Phator said:
Well I did it. Tracked these babies down about 5 hours through the mountains. They are from the farmer in the article himself. I ended up buying the last of the harvest, about 100 pods. I will try to germinate this week. If the seeds are good I’d be happy to share the glory. By the way I tried one pepper on they way home. It was definitely not like any pepper I’ve had. At this point I’d say the hottest in Japan. Although there is another hidden gem pepper I’m hunting down that I have been told is on par with a Trinidad scorpion. But more on that when I actually find it.

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Please share some seeds from your grow. I would love some for next season.

Phator · Feb 3, 2018

jedisushi06 said:
Please share some seeds from your grow. I would love some for next season.

Will do. I’m thinking that make a grow log for rare Japanese peppers. I need to hunt down the other one. It’s called Akahachi. I can’t seem to even find someone who grows them, let alone more than a few people that have heard of it.

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spicefreak · Feb 4, 2018

jedisushi06 said:
page not found.

It dissappeared in the last few months, I think, but the pics all showed peppers that looked like a shorter version of Phators.
Could easily have been foreshortening from the angle they were held at (my depth perception is kinda bad, TBH) so I'm inclined to believe he has the right stuff.

Bottom left pepper has me curious, though. Some ripe Padron/Shishito elements to its shape so maybe a relative?