Creating new relationships using kabutsu (daidai), the island's citrus fruit

At the beginning of FY2020, members of Mikurashima's meeting had been discussing a plan to introduce a food truck to the island, with the aim of creating a place where people can gather on the island using food as a starting point.

However, considering the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic situation, they had to make flexible changes to the plan. Discussions among the island's members turned to the question of whether it was possible for people to create new "connections" with Mikurashima without having a physical place to gather.

During these discussions, members focused on the kabutsu (daidai), a round citrus fruit that grows in hillside fields on Mikurashima in the winter. Kabutsu have long been a familiar part of life on Mikurashima. Not only do the fruits add a winter flavor to cooking, but they are also floated in baths and used in New Year's decorations. Thus, members came up with the Mikurashima Winter Sharing Project, an initiative to create new connections and ways to interact with fans of Mikurashima while exploring the charms of the kabutsu.

This project will be carried out with the two aims of "building relationships with people outside of the island" and "surveying consumers on uses for kabutsu," using Mikurashima Winter Sharing Sets that contain fresh kabutsu and processed products made from kabutsu.

Regarding "building relationships with people outside of the island," members set their sights on two different targets.
The first target is people who are already familiar with Mikurashima. Specifically, they aim to deepen existing connections with eager dolphin fans who always visit the island in the summer by helping them to learn about the island's charms in the winter.
The second target is people who do not yet know about Mikurashima. By having the above-mentioned eager fans "share" the kabutsu with their friends and acquaintances who do not know about the island, members aim to create more potential fans of the island in the future. It was decided that a processed product called Kabutsu Kosho (kabutsu chili paste) would be sent together with the fresh kabutsu fruit in the sets.

As for the other aim, "surveying consumers on uses for kabutsu," members will ask people who receive the kabutsu to complete an online questionnaire in which they will rate the kabutsu and suggest new ways of using the fruit. The results of the questionnaire will be used as material for future discussions to improve the appeal of the kabutsu and Mikurashima.

The initiative will be developed further.
Members decided to collaborate with BathHaus (Shibuya City, Tokyo), a public bathhouse that is beginning to evolve into a new community space in the metropolitan area, and the Tokyo Takarajima Shoten, a pop-up shop in BEAMS JAPAN (Shinjuku City, Tokyo) that introduces the specialty products and lifestyle of eleven islands, to distribute the Sharing Sets at each of these locations.

All of the island's members began to prepare for this event while working together.