A visit to Greencollar’s Maraekakaho vineyard has brought together two stories from opposite sides of the world — connected by a shared love of growing grapes.
When Myah Houthuijzen stepped onto the vineyard at the beginning of this year’s harvest, it wasn’t her first experience with budou. Growing up, her Japanese grandparents owned and operated a grape orchard in Masuda, in Japan’s Shimane Prefecture. Some of her earliest memories are of helping in the vineyard – preparing the protective bags.
She loved the visit to a traditional vineyard in Hawke’s Bay. “I had an amazing time. It was so great to see the methods my grandparents used to grow grapes being used here, and on such a large scale,” she says.
“Budou is such a strong childhood memory for me. My grandparents growing them and giving them away to local kindergartens and families. It made people so happy.”
That experience resonated strongly with Greencollar founder Shin Koizumi’s own story. His grandparents grew cherries and grapes in Yamanashi, where he also spent time helping in the vineyard as a child. Like Myah’s family, they eventually stepped away from growing as they got older, but the memories stayed.
“Everyone enjoyed the freshly picked fruit and became so happy,” says Shin. “That stayed with me, and it’s part of why Greencollar was created; to grow fruit that brings that same feeling to people again.”
Myah visited the vineyard in mid-February, just ahead of the early 2026 harvest, and says the experience was emotional from the outset. “Up until my grandparents sold their vineyard a few years ago, they were passionate about growing the traditional way. It was something very special to them, and very special to me. It was incredible to see it here, and the size of it compared to Japan was amazing as well. It just went on and on!”
Hosted at Greencollar by administration manager Kumiko Koizumi, the visit quickly became more than a tour. Conversations moved easily between English and Japanese, with shared experiences bridging cultures and generations.
For Kumiko, the connection was immediate. “It was so lovely meeting Myah,” she says. “To hear her story and see how closely it connects with ours. It felt very special.”
Myah grew up in Gisborne and now lives in Napier, where she is studying business and working with young people in the community. Now 21, she and a friend run Surely Skate - teaching skateboarding to young women in a traditionally male-dominated sport, she manages Wātea Youth Space, running a youth hang-out and events space in Napier, and she had helped create a forum of young professionals focused on creating opportunities for young people to stay in the region.
“It’s something I noticed as soon as I moved here - we need options that mean young people can stay here,” she says. “When you ask why they’re moving somewhere else, it’s always about more opportunities elsewhere. We need to provide those opportunities here for our young people.”
For Myah, the visit to Greencollar was more than a chance to see grapes being grown; it was a reconnection to something deeply personal, and a reminder that those traditions are continuing in a new place.
Her visit also reflects the wider culture at Greencollar, where a multicultural team works together across languages and backgrounds, with a shared focus on producing premium Japanese-style eating grapes in Hawke’s Bay.
“I was so excited to visit,” she says. “I couldn’t wait to tell my baachan and jeechan.”
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