Sakata's Chigasaki Breedeing Station

The Chigasaki Breeding Station grew out of the ruins of war ; its core business was the breeding and cultivation of flowers.

The main focus was petunias for export. What stoked Takeo's passion the most was the red and white patterned, single-flowered petunia, the "Glitters" variety, which was announced in 1957. This new F1 variety, which followed in the footsteps of the prewar "Victorious" series, achieved very high standards and went on to win the bronze medal at the AAS, thus heralding the era of the single-flowered variety. The company made a name for itself internationally as "Sakata, of Petunia fame", achieving a rock-solid position in the horticultural industry.

In 1966, Sakata succeeded in the development of the "Majestic Giant" pansy with its large, 12 cm diameter flower. The "Majestic Giant Mix" and the "White with Blotch" varieties were both awarded bronze medals at the AAS.

In the 1960s, the Vegetable Division was in the initial stages of developing F1 varieties. Japan had entered a period of rapid economic growth and in order to meet the mass consumption needs for many agricultural products, improvements in quality and consistency were increasingly demanded. New F1 varieties that met these demands were praised as "ideal seeds". Sakata's new F1 cabbage "Kinpai" was awarded the Misister's Prize from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in the National Vegetable Variety Contenst in 1957 and has since become one of Japan's motst loved varieties of spring cabbage.

Sensing the need to further develop vegetable varieties, in April 1960 Sakata bought four hectares of land in Fujisawa near Tokyo, and set up the Chogo Research Station. It was here that the Kinkei 201 and Kinshun varieties were developed, both of which are still highly esteemed to this day.

In April 1959, Sakata established the Misato Research Station in the highlands of Nagano Prefecture (at an altitude of around 700m) to test the feasibility of production in cooler, high altitude areas.