Nursery olive trees were imported from France (Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie) in 1879.
the photo is one of the survivors of the original trees.
Houzouji, Befu, Kakogawa city. 宝蔵寺 加古川市
another survivor is in Minatogawa shrine, Kobe city. 湊川神社 神戸市
Meiji government examined trees in kobe. rubber, eucalyptus, lemon, grape, orange and olive.
they decided to concentrate in olive and the baby olive trees were purchased through a french company, Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie.
hundreds of olive trees were planted on the slope, north of the sannomiya station. yamamoto-dori 3 & 6. 神戸オリーブ園
the projects were led by a scholar bureaucrat at the imperial household ministry, hayato fukuba 福羽逸人. he is known as a chief architect of shinjuku garden 新宿御苑, introduction of sweet strawberry 女峰, wine brewery 播州葡萄園 and olive oil production 小豆島
this article is based on Facebook Feed (FF) nov 27 2015
