The Japanese designer Zin Kato created one-of-a-kind designs to complement new varieties from eight Colombian growers at a promotional event at the Colombian embassy in Tokyo, sponsored in part by Asocolflores.
The group that represents the flower farmers behind three-quarters of Colombia’s flower exports continued its push for goodwill — and increased sales —in Japan this month.
For the second year, Asocolflores, The Association of Colombian Flower Exporters, hosted a star-studded event at the Colombian embassy in Tokyo. The Nov. 18 exhibition, organized in collaboration with ProColombia, an agency that promotes tourism, and the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture, paid tribute to the Japanese designer Zin Kato and is part of a multi-year, two-pronged promotional push to increase demand for Colombia’s flowers in Japan, according to Jairo Cadavid, director of promotions of Asocolflores.
Currently about 75 percent of Colombia’s total flower exports go to the U.S. and only 5 percent go to Asia (mainly Japan), Cadavid said.
For the embassy event, Kato created original designs for a runway show that incorporated new varieties from eight flower farms in Colombia: Agrícola El Cactus, Agroindustrial Don Eusebio, Andalucía, Ayurá, Discovery Farms, Flores El Picacho, Luisiana Farms and Turflor.
The next day, Asocolflores sponsored an event at Tokyo’s Yurakucho Railway Station in honor of Good Married Couple Day, a relatively new holiday in Japan that promotes “marital harmony and appreciation for one’s spouse.” There, Asocolflores handed out 20,000 flowers to passersby and presented 100 Japanese men with floral designs to take home to their wives. (Flower giveaway to generate good feelings about flower? If that sounds familiar, read all about the SAF-led Petal It Forward initiative in this month’s Floral Management.)
In addition, the baseball player and former Toronto Blue Jay Munenori Kawasaki was at the station with his wife, “creating a real media draw,” said Cadavid. “The Good Married Couple Day in Japan is a long-term effort to position flowers as the best gift to recognize the role of the Japanese women,” he said, adding that Japan’s First Lady Akie Abe attended last year’s event at the Colombian embassy, a nod to the host country’s support of the group’s efforts.
