Thank you for being here. Hi, I’m Yumi.
We’ve been living on a small island in southern Japan for the past three years. By late April, the days become warm and gentle, and everything begins to feel a little lighter. Birds fill the air with their songs, and the landscape slowly turns green again.
This is the time of year when we really start to feel spring.
Before moving here, I had never grown vegetables, and I rarely paid attention to plants. But after starting a small home farm, I began to notice the rhythm of the seasons – how things grow, change, and quietly exist around us.
Living closer to nature has changed the way I see things. It made me realize how much I had been overlooking.
Something That Was Always There
One day, while walking our dog along our usual path, I noticed small red berries growing by the roadside.
It’s a path I walk almost every day. And yet, I had never seen them before.
They looked like tiny wild berries, but I wasn’t sure if they were edible. After a bit of research, I found out they were wild raspberries known as Nawashiro Ichigo.
This is our third year living here. And somehow, this was the first time I noticed them.
Once I became aware of them, I started seeing them everywhere. Even near our own farm. We often don’t see what we’re not looking for.
What is Nawashiro Ichigo?
苗代苺
Nawashiro Ichigo
A type of wild raspberry that grows naturally across Japan, especially from Honshu down to Kyushu. They bear small, soft red fruits from spring to early summer – usually found in sunny fields, along roadsides, or in open grassy areas.
You can often find them in sunny fields, along roadsides, or in open grassy areas. They bear small, soft red fruits from spring to early summer.
The name “Nawashiro” comes from traditional rice farming.
Today, rice planting usually takes place between late April and May, which doesn’t always match the fruiting season of these berries.
But in the past, rice planting was done during the rainy season. That timing overlapped perfectly with when these berries ripened.
Because of this, the berries became associated with the nawashiro – the rice seedling beds prepared before planting – and that’s how they got their name.
They’re not something you’ll find in stores. They’re quiet, seasonal gifts that you can only discover by chance.
Turning a Small Discovery into Something Real
That same day, we decided to pick some.
Along our usual walking path, we carefully gathered the small berries together as a family. By the end, we had about 250 grams.
250 grams of wild raspberries, gathered along a familiar path.
There was something special about it.
For three years, I had walked past them without ever noticing. And on the very day I finally saw them, I was able to hold them in my hands.
We took them home and made jam.
Simple Wild Raspberry Jam
・ 250g Nawashiro Ichigo (wild raspberries)
・ 250g raw cane sugar
・ A little lemon juice
Just a few simple ingredients.
As they slowly cooked, a gentle, natural sweetness filled the kitchen. Something I hadn’t even known existed just hours before was now transforming right in front of me.
Being able to discover something – and turn it into something we could taste, on the same day. It felt like a small, but meaningful moment.
Seeing What Was Always There
Since moving here, I’ve come to feel that there are still so many things I haven’t noticed yet.
Even along a familiar path, there are small signs of life quietly changing with the seasons.
All it takes is a moment to slow down and look. And suddenly, something new appears.
These wild raspberries reminded me of that.
