Japanese local treats go on sale in food fair in Chengdu, China

CHENGDU, China, Oct. 16 Kyodo - Six Japanese prefectural governments opened Thursday a Japanese food fair in Chengdu, the capital of China's Sichuan Province, which was rocked by a deadly
earthquake in May.

While promoting food products unique to each Japanese locality in the first
ever such event in Chengdu's huge market in inland China, the six prefectures
aim to donate part of the sales proceeds to the Chinese city to help fund
reconstruction work in the quake-hit areas, said the government-affiliated
Japan External Trade Organization.
The trade fair, to be held through Sunday, was organized by Fukushima, Oita,
Ehime, Nagano, Ishikawa and Kagoshima prefectures and JETRO.
A total of some 150 food items went on sale in an Ito-Yokado Co. supermarket in
Chengdu. The product offerings include apples and pears from Nagano, sake from
Ishikawa and ''shochu'' distilled liquor from Kagoshima, according to JETRO.
On Saturday, an Ultraman show will be held as the Japanese TV science-fiction
hero is popular in China.
Japanese alcoholic beverages, candy and other food items are already in the
local market but most of the items highlighted by the fair are making
appearances for the first time in Chengdu, JETRO said.
Since baby formula contaminated with melamine, a toxic substance, has caused a
widespread food scare in China, one JETRO official said, ''We aim to make an
active pitch for tasty Japanese food produced with much care now that Chinese
people are quite concerned about food safety.''
One 32-year-old Chinese housewife who bought apples after tasting a sample
said, ''I bought them to eat with my family because they look beautiful and
fresh.''
Another female shopper, a 30-year-old lawyer who was appraising sushi on a
store shelf, said, ''Japanese food is healthy. I want a greater variety of
Japanese food to become available in Chengdu.''