Dairy farmer in Japan wants to make syrup

[Tithis]

Recently heard from a friend of mine who recently moved to Japan and is working on a Japanese dairy farm in Hakkaido. Hakkaido is the northern-most large island of Japan and is roughly the size of Maine and has a population of around 5.5 million. I had looked at it previously and it has a climate that should be good for syrup production so I suggested he should try to make some there and apparently his host had already thought of it and has some taps to try. So I gave him pictures from my backyard setup and some basic info about how many taps to use, finishing temps and such. It's obviously too late now, but I'd be interested to see what they might come up with next year.

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=cfec43ec9681a2b3&id=CFEC43EC9681A2B3!8929&ithint=folder,&authkey=!ANfNRylMzdZSwpk
Besides the flying fish flags and japanese signs you could hardly tell that place wasn't somewhere in the northeast.

[maple flats]

Do they have maple trees? That's the big question.

[Cabin]

Or walnuts. :) Given the history of fine wood working in Japan I just think they should be well informed about the damage that is done to the lumber.

[Tithis]

That will be the kicker. I know there are more species of maple native to Asia than anywhere else, but all I know about is American and some European maples. Apparently there are some species that reach tappable size like this one.
http://skullsinthestars.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/japanesemaple01.jpg?w=640&h=480

Now as to how common it is for them to reach that size and if they grow in this farms area is something I can't answer. I imagine he must have had some trees in mind if he bothered to get taps. I more or less just thought the idea itself was interesting.

[maple flats]

I guess the question then might be what sugar% is the sap? If it is below about 1.5% there will be far too much boiling to make it very feasable on a small scale. On a large scale an RO could make the difference.
I'm only guessing, but since maple syrup is only made in a pie shaped maple belt, wide in the north east, from Northern Virginia to Nova Scotia and down to a point in about Wisconsin, there must be a reason. It is likely not because no one else ever tried. My guess is that the sugar is too low in their maples. Maybe Dr. Tim can chime in.

[happy thoughts]

There may be an even bigger market for sap, especially as an export to Korea where the practice is to drink 5 gallons at one sitting as a spring tonic. Per this article, a gallon of fresh sap sold for $6-$7 5 years ago. A way to bottle maple sap might be worth looking into.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/world/asia/06maple.html?_r=2&ref=maple_syrup_and_sugar&

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

[QUOTE=happy thoughts;257148]There may be an even bigger market for sap, especially as an export to Korea where the practice is to drink 5 gallons at one sitting as a spring tonic. Per this article, a gallon of fresh sap sold for $6-$7 5 years ago. A way to bottle maple sap might be worth looking into.




Here you go
http://www.vtsweetwater.com/