With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, Jeana Cadby, PhD in specialty cacao and craft chocolate, takes us on a tour through the history of chocolate in Japan.

We also look at the the recent growth of the country’s craft chocolate scene, as well as the pioneering chocolatiers who have managed to grow cacao on Tokyo’s Ogasawara Islands for the first time.

Tokyo Cacao: Japan’s first 'soil-to-bar' chocolate (Jeana Cadby, The Japan Times

Akihiro Kakimoto: The man behind Japan's most elaborate chocolate desserts (J.J. O'Donoghue, The Japan Times)

Little Chocolate’s Big Moment (Deena Shanker, Bloomberg)

Inside Japan’s Craft Chocolate Craze (Craft Sense)

Craft Chocolate Experience Tokyo (Annual Event)

Jeana Cadby: LinkedIn | Articles

Oscar Boyd: Twitter | Articles | Instagram

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Photo: Chocolate by Tokyo Cacao, who grow cacao trees on the Ogasawara Islands. | COURTESY OF TOKYO CACAO