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Green Cowbell Inc.

Address: 827 Kōnuchō Fukuda Miyoshi, Hiroshima 729-4111
Call: 0824-63-5528
Business Hours: 11 am – 6:30 pm
Closed: Wednesday

Carter Peanuts has been a specialty of Konucho since former US president Jimmy Carter gave them to the town in 2001. It has been taken over by the local people. Ibaraki Eiji, the president of Green Cowbell Inc is also one of the members who introduced the peanuts to the whole country as a producer growing and preserving the local speciality.

During WW2, the bell of Shoganji in Hichi of Konucho was delivered to the army as material for cannonballs, but instead of becoming a weapon, it was shipped to Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia as a symbol of peace called “the Bell of Hiroshima.” It led the former US president, Jimmy Carter to Konucho in October, 1990. Since then the friendship with Atlanta city and Americus city has been developed and in 2001 as a proof of the friendship and as a gift from Carter who owned a peanuts farm, peanut seeds were given. Ibaraki Eiji, the president of Green Cowbell Inc is one of the people who stayed at Americus city as an exchange program of the town. He told us he was impressed by the huge peanut field stretched that as far as the eye could see. He has been to Germany and many other countries as a tour conductor of a travel company. After that he came back to Konucho to take over the family business and started producing Carter Peanuts. 4 years later, in 2018 about 850 kg of the peanuts were produced in a year. Konucho’s total amount of production is 1,200 kg, so 70% of them are produced by Ibaraki alone.

Originally called Runner peanuts, Carter Peanuts was a kind of peanuts that was grown in Georgia, a home area of Jimmy Carter and wasn’t grown in Japan. When you dig up its rootstock, you can find it has a lot of small nuts. The sweetness in the small grains is the uniqueness of Carter Peanuts. What makes the delicious, sweet peanuts is the soil that Ibaraki fertilizes. Green Cowbell raises cows at a farm his father runs and also grows spinach which produces most of the amount used in Miyoshi. They grow vegetables, feed their cows on the dregs of the vegetables, and use the excrement of the cows as organic fertilizer. “Our theme of firming is ‘the complete circulation’ in accordance with SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) which is becoming famous all over the world.” says Ibaraki. A lot of companies have started directing their attention to the circulation. Ibaraki teaches many young farmers about agriculture. As he says, “If farmers do their best, they can do anything.” he projects the primary strength that agriculture has as a primary and ancient industry.

Carter Peanuts are so popular that they are sold out immediately, the problem is that the nuts are small so the yield is small. So the people in the town started holding a study meeting. “Just growing is not enough. We should make the peanuts more popular.” they talked, and started promoting the peanuts and developing a new product such as Carter Chocolate. The association of commerce and industry, the tourist association and the administration cooperated and advertised the speciality, and as a result, the former US president, Obama gave them a letter of thanks and the chocolate became a popular product for Valentine’s Day. Even buyers of a famous department store often ask them if they have more Carter Peanuts. The peanuts are becoming popular not only in Japan but also internationally. People in Konucho promote the peanuts, and the communities and uniqueness of the town support the production. “To preserve the speciality of the town as a farmer, we’ll do our best.” says Ibaraki, grabbing a baton he took over.

 
Feature articles about Carter Peanuts, the speciality preserved by people in Konucho
 
Processor: Ito Sakae (Society of Carter Peanuts)
Bringing out the Sweetness of Carter Peanuts, the Top Peanuts Craftsman in Konucho

Sales Channel: Isamu Nakakubo (Y shop Nakakubo)
Only Here in Miyoshi! The New Local Specialities, Carter Chocolate and Carter Manju