"Sakuraage," invented by Yuichiro Onoue, a third-year student of the UoA was commercialized in August, 2014.

"Sakuraage" is a variant of takoyaki (fried octopus balls) that replaces the octopus with horsemeat, an Aizu delicacy, to create a health fast food. This new Aizu delicacy represents Aizu's four seasons; spring with the color of horsemeat (which is considered to be pink by the Japanese, hence its nickname, "sakura"), summer with green cabbage, fall with red sauce and winter with the white dough.

Mr. Onoue first brought up the idea of "Sakuraage" for the course, "Basic Knowledge Course on Starting Up Ventures I," a part of Aizu IT Nisshinkan (*1) Factories for Experiencing Start Up Ventures last year. Onoue's idea, praised highly, previously won the top prizes at the "4th Aizu Agriculture, Commerce, Industry, Academia and Tourism Fair" (*2) and the "9th Campus Venture Grand Prix (CVG) Tohoku Competition" and the Business Division Judge's Special Prize at the 10th CVG (*3).

"Sakuraage" was commercialized in cooperation with Lion D'or Corporation. (*4) Mr. Onoue said; "Since the first phase of the development of "Sakuraage," I made many trial products for improvement. But for the commercialization, I repeated trial and error more than ever. At the beginning of the trial production process, I made things which were no good for sale. With the help of people from Lion D'or Corp. giving valuable advice, "Sakuraage" was gradually improved."

After such a process, "Sakuraage" was first put on sale at Lion D'or Aizu Apio Store (*5) on Saturday, August 9. On the first day, they established the sales goal of 50 boxes for the day but instead almost achieved that goal in only one hour after the sales start, selling 40 boxes. Mr. Onoue joined the sales by handing out samples at the store and said afterward, recalling the scene, "shoppers saying "it's very good" and their big smiles encouraged me a lot."

The commercialization of "Sakuraage" made the news, drawing attention (*6). Mr. Onoue inspiringly expressed future perspectives of this product, saying, "I would like to spread "Sakuraage" to broader areas of the country, making efforts to make this product known to many people. This product will also be on sale at Sosho Sai (*7), the university festival in fall. I would like for many people to come and taste "Sakuraage."

*1　Aizu IT Nisshinkan:
Composed of "Factories for Experiencing Start Up Ventures" on themes to meet local needs. These factories are operated by the University of Aizu, which specializes in IT education, in collaboration with venture companies and municipal governments in the region. Each factory aims to help students to develop solid skills and entrepreneurial spirit by learning the practical production process, such as development of software to meet local needs, while receiving the guidance from managers and engineers in local companies.
*2　Aizu Agriculture, Commerce, Industry, Academia and Tourism Fair:
The contest designed for UoA students to bring up their proposals for business models and compete in order to make use of them for creation of new business in the Aizu region. Fresh ideas are presented ever year.
*3　Campus Venture Grand Prix (CVG):
A business proposal competition aimed at cultivating young business talent and creating new industry, supported by the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun (Business & Technology Daily News) Ltd.
Reference: UoA Student Onoue wins Campus Venture Grand Prix Convention Japan Special Prize
Reference: UoA Student Onoue wins the Top Prize at the Campus Venture Grand Prix Tohoku Contest
*4　Lion D'or Corporation Apio Store:
A company, with the headquarters based in Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, operating supermarkets in Fukushima, Tochigi and Niigata prefectures.
*5　Lion D'or Corporation:
Address: 116 Inter Nishi, Aizuwakamatsu City ("Sakuraage" on sale at 500 yen including tax. Please check with the store for the sales period and other details.)
*6　The commercialization of "Sakuraage" made the news, drawing attention:
Reported in Fukushima Minpo News on August 8, TUF "TV U Fukushima" on August 9, KFB Fukushima "Fukushima Super J Channel" on August 12 and so on. Received a lot of feedback via Twitter and Facebook.
*7　Sosho Sai
The UoA's festival "蒼" (So) means Lake Inawashiro and Mt. Bandai. "翔" (Sho) means soaring on the wing. The theme of this year's festival is "Let's enjoy Aizu in an excursion boat."

Related Links