Cyclamens add year-end color to homes in Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Greenhouse workers prepare cyclamen for delivery in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, ahead of the holiday season when the flowers are typically given as Christmas and year-end gifts. The prefecture is the nation’s top cyclamen grower, and the city produces about 460,000 pots a year, according to the local Himawari branch of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives. Hisami Kojima grows more than 40 varieties of cyclamen in his greenhouse and is set to ship about 40,000 pots by the end of December. “I hope people will use cyclamen to decorate their homes and enjoy the warm atmosphere the flowers create,” Kojima said.