How the Increase in Goya (Bitter Gourd) Consumption Impacted Okinawa’s Vegetable Production and Shipment Systems: Case Study of Itoman City

Abstract

Okinawa is the southernmost prefecture of Japan and consists of a series of geographically isolated islands spread over 1,000km. Before it reverted to Japan from the USA in 1972, the Plant Protection Act had prohibited the shipment of vegetables from Okinawa to mainland Japan. However, that act for goya (bitter gourd), a local vegetable, remained in place until the eradication of the melon fly in 1993. After 1972, Okinawa was seen as a potential prime source for off-season vegetable production to meet the demand of mainland Japan. Until the mid-1980s, vegetable production in Okinawa showed favorable growth, but it slowed in the face of stiff competition from production centers in other regions. The situation changed in the 1990s once goya gained popularity following a nationwide “Okinawa boom,” and goya shipments from Okinawa to the Japanese mainland increased exponentially.

This paper examines how the increase in Okinawan goya consumption affected vegetable production and vegetable producers’ management systems throughout the province by examining in detail the expansion of goya production and shipments, focusing on production technology, production management, and shipment systems. In the case of Itoman city, an area in Okinawa known for its vegetable production, the increased goya production and shipment volumes were the result of strong collaboration among the government, agricultural cooperatives, private shipping companies, and farmers to improve goya varieties, standardize the sizes of gourds grown as well as cartons used for shipment to meet mainland market demand, introduce subsidies for goya greenhouse construction, etc.

After the expansion of the goya market, the once limited shipment routes were diversified and vegetable farmers in Okinawa could select the most appropriate shipment routes on their own initiative. The expansion of the goya market not only helped to build a strong production and shipment system to deliver vegetables to mainland Japan but also established a base for Okinawa to regain its position as the major remote vegetable provider for the mainland.