Appearance is no longer everything, at least for Japanese food shoppers.
Increasing concerns over the health effects of intensive farming are persuading many consumers to abandon the artificial perfection of conventional fruits and vegetables for the gnarled but chemical-free produce of organic farms.
Japan's first case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), in September, plus a massive outbreak of food poisoning last year due to insanitary practices at the nation's top dairy producer, have heightened awareness.
"BSE forced people to think about how food is produced and that is the first step towards understanding the value of organic [food]," said Donald Nordeng of QAI, a company licensed by the government to judge if produce grown overseas is organic.
Organic food can be more than 50 percent dearer than ordinary produce, but teacher Akiko Kajikawa, lunching with a colleague at a recently opened organic cafe in central Tokyo, says money is irrelevant when it comes to health issues.
"I want to eat organic food," Kajikawa said. "But I often have difficulty getting hold of it, so I'm really happy to get lunch here."
The Japanese market for organic products was estimated at between US$3.7 billion and US$4.5 billion last year, compared with US$1.5 billion five years earlier.
"We have seen an explosive growth in Japanese customers over the past year," said John Bayles, whose mail-order company, Tengu, supplies imported natural foods.
His firm used to attract mostly expatriates, but Japanese now make up around 50 percent of the clientele.
In another sign of expanding interest, Biofac, Japan's first large-scale fair for natural food, will be held near Tokyo this month.
"We feel that consumer interest in organic food is rising, but production and distribution is lagging," said a spokesman for the organizers. "We're hoping the event will help to redress the balance."
Although organic farms are benefiting from the expanding market for natural foods, they face a daunting array of problems.
Japan's warm, humid summers make an ideal environment for plant diseases and pests to thrive. Ordinary farmers thus tend to use far more chemicals than their North American counterparts -- some estimates put the figure at seven times as much.
Then there is the problem of space, or lack of it. Home to 127 million people, Japan's land area is smaller than California's, and much of it is mountainous.
Tiny farms are crammed together wherever there is arable land and organic produce can easily be contaminated by a neighbor's use of chemicals.
"There is no choice but to set aside a buffer zone within your own land," said Sanae Sawanobori, a university lecturer in agriculture who also helps out on her family's 2-hectare organic fruit farm.
Sawanobori, whose parents switched to organic production after her mother suffered a serious bout of chemical poisoning, said the government should provide more support in the form of finance and advice for organic farmers.
Farmers who convert from conventional production face hefty start-up costs for equipment.
Many also struggle at first because the Japan Agricultural Standard law says land must be free of artificial chemicals for up to three years before produce can be designated organic.
The law, which came into force in April, defines standards for organic production so that consumers can be sure the produce they buy is chemical-free.
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