Recent trends on strawberry cultivars and production technology in Japan

Since World War II, many strawberry cultivars have been bred and released in Japan. In the mid-1980s, two early June-bearers, 'Toyonoka' (1984) and 'Nyoho' (1985) were released. Their productivity, earliness, and fruit quality, including shelf-life, are superior to those of 'Hokowase' (1960), which had been the leading cultivar from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. Within a few years, these two cultivars replaced 'Hokowase'. In the 1990s, many new early cultivars were released. Among them, 'Akihime' (1992), 'Sachinoka' (1996), and 'Tochiotome' (1996) became popular. Breeding programs for the late June-bearers and ever-bearers were also conducted; 'Kita-ekubo' (1995) and 'Kitano-kagayaki' (1996), the late June-bearers, and 'Ever Berry' (1990) and 'Pechika' (1995), the ever-bearers, were also released. Recently, large-fruited cultivars, such as 'Saga-honoka' (2001), 'Beni-hoppe' (2002), 'Satsuma-otome' (2002), and 'Fukuoka S-6' (2003), the June-bearers, and 'HS-138' (2003), 'Summer Ruby' (2004), and 'Natsuakari' (2004), the ever-bearers, were released. The shares of cultivars in the Metropolitan central wholesale market have changed drastically with the introduction of these cultivars. Summer to autumn production remains low, and more than 5,000 t of fresh fruit is imported annually, primarily from the USA. Among the recent trends in production technology in strawberry, many substrate culture systems have been developed and have become popular over the last decade. The strategy for summer to autumn production has also been spotlighted with the development of new cropping systems and the breeding of new ever-bearers. For the global patent protection of new cultivars, a cultivar identification system using CAPS markers was developed to distinguish over 70 octoploid cultivars. Recently, the "Japan Strawberry Forum" was organized to develop an information exchange among individuals participating in the strawberry industry, including research, production, and extension.