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KOBE -- Tomato vending machines at a commercial facility and a train station in this west Japan city have become so popular that people apparently line up for the fresh products refilled three times a week.

A bag of tomatoes weighing some 230 grams is priced between 300 yen (about $2.60) and 400 yen (approx. $3.50).

The "Kobe Sweets Tomato" variety is grown at Rokko Farm in the city's Kita Ward. The vending machines are set up at Kobe Electric Railway Co.'s Suzurandai Station in Kita Ward and the BB Plaza shopping mall in the city's Nada Ward. An additional machine will be installed at Tanigami Station in Kita Ward by the end of 2021.

Tomatoes' sugar content varies depending on the season, and currently "white-labeled" ones, which have a sugar content of 8% or higher, are available. "Red-labeled" tomatoes, which are carefully selected from ones that have 10% or higher sugar content, will go on sale at the end of 2021.

Yukiko Ueno, 81, an unemployed woman who lives in Nada Ward and bought the tomatoes at BB Plaza, said, "They are sweet and tasty. I buy four to five of them twice a week for my grandchild."

At Rokko Farm, tomatoes are grown in a total of six greenhouses over 2,000 square meters of ground. Some 10,000 saplings were planted in July, and the fruits harvested in October were sold at the farm's directly managed store and the Daimaru Kobe department store, in addition to the vending machines.

Behind these popular tomatoes is Nada Ward-based Shimabun Corp., which recycles iron scrap and processes steel stock. The company entered the tomato cultivation business in 2018. By inviting an agricultural consultant from Shimane Prefecture in western Japan, it has made strong efforts to create tomatoes that have a high sugar content.

Shimabun introduced vending machines in October 2019 after an employee came up with the idea. They created a buzz through word of mouth and social media, and now products apparently sell out within a few hours after refills.

The company's representative Masaki Sakata, 50, commented: "We've learned to grow sweet tomatoes by trial and error. We want as many people as possible to eat them."

For inquiries, contact Shimabun by phone at 078-802-9410 (in Japanese).

(Japanese original by Atsuko Nakata, Kobe Bureau)

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