Hajime Kuroda (黒田一 1899–1996)
The father of the Okukuji apple
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During the war, Hajime Kuroda was ordered by the army to donate his horse which he had been using for farming. Kuroda did not want to forget about his horse and planted an apple tree in the forrest in his memory. Later on he went to order apple trees from Angyo (now Kawaguchi City) in Saitama Prefecture and planted them in a garden near the forrest.
Japanese version of this article available here
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