Photo/Illutration Shine Muscat grapes (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

SUZAKA, Nagano Prefecture--Suzaka Mayor Masao Miki apologized on March 18 for the city passing off grapes produced in Yamagata Prefecture as being grown locally to reward donors to its hometown tax program. 

Miki said at a news conference that the city had continued to accept donations even after officials learned that there had been falsification of the fruit's origin and the agricultural ministry had launched an investigation.

“I was thinking of taking action after waiting for the national investigation to be completed, but I regret that my awareness was not appropriate enough,” he said.

The municipal government had been sending Shine Muscat grapes produced in Yamagata Prefecture as thank-you gifts for donations to its “furusato nozei” hometown tax program. 

Nihon Gourmet Ichiba Co., a food company based in Wakayama Prefecture, had sent grapes harvested in Yamagata Prefecture to donors, falsely claiming they were produced in Suzaka.

The mayor said one of the suppliers of Nihon Gourmet Ichiba had apparently thought that as long as the grapes were of the Shine Muscat variety, it didn’t matter where they originated from.

A city official explained at the news conference that Nihon Gourmet Ichiba reported the mixing of grapes from Yamagata to city officials in December last year.

The issue was reported to Miki and other senior city officials in the same month.

However, considering that the agriculture ministry was investigating the falsification and that the company also reported that it would change how it operated the program, the city continued to accept donations until the end of February this year.

In March, the municipal government researched other incidents of false origins in thank-you gifts in the hometown tax program that have occurred in other municipalities.

The city then realized that urgent response to the incident was needed. The city voluntarily suspended accepting donations for the hometown tax program on March 10.

Suzaka is one of the major fruit-producing areas in the prefecture. Ninety-five percent of the municipality’s thank-you gifts are fruits, with Shine Muscat grapes being the most popular choice.

“I’m sorry for damaging the city’s brand image,” Miki said at the news conference.

The city government plans to establish a third-party committee of legal and distribution experts to investigate the cause of the mishap and take measures to prevent a recurrence.

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