Roses Princess, Suo Oshima, Seto Nai Kai, Yamaguchi, Japan

Four years ago, Kiyoka walked away from a predictable life and an engineering career to make rose jam.

Strong in her conviction but still searching for reassurance after returning to her small village on Suo Oshima, tucked between sharp green mountains and the unpredictable shores of the Seto Nai Kai, she left her boyfriend, her job, and her urban lifestyle behind. She now grows her own organic roses and prepares a weekly batch of rose jam in her atelier kitchen.

A Family Legacy

About 35 years ago, the Japanese government sent young professionals abroad for training. Kiyoka's father was one of them. He landed in Portland, Oregon, and trained as a rose farmer. Whether it was his choice or not, three years later, with the support of his American farming family, he returned to Suo Oshima as a professional rose farmer and started his own rose garden, producing cut flowers for the Yamaguchi market.

While her father applies a mix of natural and chemical methods in his greenhouses, Kiyoka takes a more modest but deeply intentional approach, using the local technique of luring bugs with seaweed picked from the shores. She claims bugs are more tempted by the sweet taste of seaweed than by rose petals. It seems to work. And even if her greenhouse looks like a beautiful mess, every living organism in there appears to cohabitate quite happily.

Why and when did we decide that a rose, to be worthy, had to be perfect? Why this race toward perfection, when the imperfection of things, in their rarity, is what makes them already so precious and unique? A mystery of mankind, or simply the PR machine of multinationals who can only produce clones?

What's Next

The Island Academy Project and the Kokusai Boueki Group have begun working with Ouchi Farm, ordering roses for various group events and setting up distribution for Kiyoka's famous rose jam through our upcoming organic store, MOLAO Japon, opening at Canal City, Fukuoka, on October 5th.

International travellers already have access to unlimited international brand products wherever they go. With MOLAO Organic, we aim to promote local, natural, organic products for global inside-out beauty. More soon.

Find Kiyoka's Rose Jam
Kiyoka's Rose Jam is available from Akemi-Ya, Shimata, Hikari.

Visit Ouchi Farm
Best lunch on Suo Oshima. 魚処 宇兵衛大島店, 8-1 Nishimigama, Suōōshima-chō, Ōshima-gun, Yamaguchi-ken 742-2101, Tel 0820-74-2000

MOLAO Japon
Opening October 5th at Canal City, the largest popular mall in Fukuoka.