According to this article:
"There are early records in Japan of figs (ichijiku in Japanese). They first entered the country through Nagasaki in 1630. Others came to Japan from Korea. Industry did not develop until 1908 when a young Kohjiro Masui left Hiroshima for California and returned with a fig cultivar now called the Masui-Dauphine, (Sometimes spelled in English as Dolphin). It is unclear how this evolved but 90% of the figs grown in Japan are Masui-Dauphine. There is some speculation that it evolved from early California Smyrna figs. 98% of those sold commercially are Masui-Dauphine. Others grown include Rodos, Bahane, Wase Nihon Shu, King, Noride, White Genoa, Violette-Dauphine, Negro, Largo, Selesto and Brown turkey. Most of these are for home use or used for grafting tests at various agriculture experiment stations."
http://www.hawaiifruit.net/Figs-Japan.htm
And:
"Figs have been very popular in Japan for eons.
They were introduced in Japan at the beginning of the Edo Era (17th Century) in Nagasaki (Kyushu Island) from Persia through China.
Interestingly enough the Japanese consume only a little quantity of dry figs that they mainly use in cakes. They prefer their fruit fresh and eat them either as appetizers (with sesame dressing/gomadare) or as dessertfruit. They are grown inside greenhouses or in open air, depending on the variety and growing method."
http://shizuokagourmet.com/2010/08/23/mrs-toshiko-otsukas-fig-orchard/
Another video. The little boy eating the fresh fig looks like he's enjoying it. The shipping boxes have pictures of split open figs on them: