STORY BEHIND THE ART OF ASUKA HISHIKI
22nd Annual International
American Society of Botanical Artists at Marin Art & Garden Center
Black zebra tomato and a honey bee
Solanum lycopersicum
The first summer I moved back to Japan, I was shocked to find how hard it was to get heirloom tomatoes in a market. It doesn’t mean there are no heirloom tomatoes available in Japan, but my hope getting “the one,” meaning a great tomato posing for my artwork, was unimaginably hard. Then, my "mission impossible" started.
First, I visited a farmer’s market nearby. Unfortunately, I came home empty handed. No one had heard about the tomato. If this was in a big city like Tokyo or Osaka, someone should know. Then, a friend who worked at a French restaurant found very cute but tiny heirloom tomatoes at the special farmer’s market in Tokyo! Yes, it was in Tokyo, far from my place, and on top of that, the special market required a pass to enter.
Another friend introduced me to a hobby farmer, but he wasn’t interested in the new tomato…probably my fault. When he asked me about the tomato, I explain that the tomato looks distorted and come with all different shade of greens and reds and looks like a diseased tomato, but actually very healthy. It must have sounded super appetizing. Anyway, he wasn’t happy to receive the package of heirloom tomato seeds. Of course, later, he said, “It didn’t work. Sorry!”
Okay, on to the next attempt. I searched online to find a farmer growing heirloom tomatoes. There were a few, but mostly they were far, far from my place. However, I found one farmer who was devoted to the heirloom tomato and was close, about 3 hours by car. Anyway, I wrote a letter explaining why it was so important to get a beautiful (meaning ugly) tomato. The farmer was very kind and nice, and promised me to send some, or I could come pick it up! Finally!
Unfortunately, we had devastating a typhoon that summer, and it swept out the entire farm! Only few tomatoes survived, but those were reserved for his cafe business. The next year, because of strong heat, his tomato plants bore only a few fruits, and again he needed the precious tomatoes for his cafe business…
Of course, I had a backup plan! I found a few other hobby farmers and gardeners who might be interested in growing heirloom tomatoes. After sending several packages of heirloom tomato seeds to them, I found this also did not work. They said that the heirloom tomato was really difficult to grow, or different' from regular Japanese tomatoes. The farmer got only a few, miserable looking tomatoes after great care, and they hated them.
Finally, I realized that there was only one way to achieve this mission. I would grow it myself. But you should know I have a Black Thumb. It is dangerous business… I killed most of my pot plants, including some cacti. This is probably in my DNA since my father accidentally killed our Nanking cherry tree when he only meant to prune it. But that is another story.
Luckily, we have a small space in our backyard. The first thing I had to do was to improve the soil, which was poor and was covered with weeds.
At last, I glimpsed a sliver of hope! There is a nursery that sells seedlings of heirloom tomatoes in Japan!! I thought, if I can start from a healthy seedling, it would be much easier! The first year was not good, but I learned some tips, and the second year was not too bad. The climate in our area is not suitable for heirloom tomatoes. It is too wet in the rainy season, and too hot in summer. On top of my incompetent care, the heavy rain and strong sunshine killed many, many tomatoes, and I felt really bad to see the catastrophes. However, amazingly, my tomato plants bore some fruits!!! It is a miracle to see beautiful fruits hanging from the plants, truly magical.
It’s been 5 years since I began to grow my own tomatoes, and still many won’t make it to the end. Yet, somehow I have enough tomatoes for my art. Every time I see any fruits and vegetables it reminds me how fortunate we are to have such good access to those nutritious beauties with little effort.
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Read more about this artist’s work: 21st Annual