The Okuizumo Rose Garden in Nagahisa Village, Ota City, Shimane Prefecture, cultivates and supplies edible rose products to restaurants, hotels, food manufacturers, distillers and cosmetics manufacturers throughout Japan. For the last decade, director Atsushi Fukuma researched and developed cultivation techniques to create the highest quality rose cultivar, called Sahime, for food production.
To create food grade roses, Fukuma-san avoid using pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in production. Insect control becomes the main problem in such cultivation, and careful, detailed inspection of the garden to minimize petal damage is a key characteristic of the Okuizumo Rose Garden.
About the name, Sahime
Fukuma-san's original rose, called Sahime (さ姫, pronounced SAH-hee-meh and literally meaning "princess"), is characterized by a strong, silky fragrance, thick petals, and a deep, beautiful red color. The name for the rose was taken from the historical Izumo no Kuni Fudoki (Records of Customs and Land of Izumo) completed in 733; fudoki were ancient reports on local regions chronicling the local culture, geography, oral traditions, myths, rituals and poems, completed and presented to the Japanese emperor. In this ancient record, Mt. Sanbe (Sanbesan 三瓶山), which overlooks Oda City, was called Mt. Sahime (Sahimeyama 佐比売山), and the area was originally called Sahime Village until merged with surrounding areas into the present Oda City municipality.
