Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

Koge Hanagoshogaki persimmons tree-ripened in western Japan

TOTTORI, Dec. 5 — Koge Hanagoshogaki persimmons are being harvested in the town of Yazu, Tottori Prefecture. The persimmons, a local specialty, are a variety that is ripened on trees until after the onset of frost to remove the astringency. During harvest time between late November and mid-December, trees are stripped of leaves and left only with the fruit, turning orchards bright orange. Koge Hanagoshogaki is fine-textured and juicy, with sugar content of 18 to 20 degrees Brix. According to JA Tottori Inaba, a local agricultural cooperative, 87 farms in the area are cultivating the fruit on a total of some 12 hectares of land. They plan to ship roughly … Continue reading

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Tsurushi-gaki: cold sea wind slowly turns persimmons sweet

HYOGO, Dec. 3 – The making of tsurushi-gaki (hang-dried persimmon) on the Kannabe Plateau in Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture, is now in the very final stage. Members of the association of hang-dried persimmon producers in Kannabe tied two Oomino or Hiratane-nashi persimmons, picked in November, to a string and hung them for about a month to dry. Currently, the producers are busy massaging the persimmons to make them softer in texture. The association will start selling them in mid-December. Cold wind blowing from the Sea of Japan helps the persimmons go dry and generate rich sweetness and smooth texture. They are popular among skiers visiting the plateau and people looking … Continue reading

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Sennen Akari Festival: 20,000 bamboo lanterns emit warm glow in Hita City, Oita Prefecture

OITA, Nov. 14 – In the middle of November, Hita City, Oita Prefecture, held an annual event called Sennen Akari (meaning “a thousand years of lights” in Japanese), featuring fantastic displays of lanterns made of locally-cut bamboo. Around 20,000 candles were lit along the Mameda Town and Kagetsu river areas with historic buildings to create a dreamy atmosphere. The locals began the festival in 2004 to revitalize the local economy and protect local specialties such as cedars and hinoki cypress from bamboo. They cut Moso-Chiku, the biggest bamboo found in Japan, in the bamboo groves next to local cedar and cypress forests every year to make lanterns. The lanterns emitting … Continue reading

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Exports of watercored yellow apples soar amid rising demand in Asia

TOKYO, Nov. 17 – Gunma Meigetsu, a yellow apple variety, with water core, a sign that the fruit has more sugar than most apples of the same variety, is recently attracting popularity at home and abroad. The variety is large in size, weighing roughly 300-350 grams each, and has high-quality flavor, with its sugar content at 15 degrees Brix or more. JA Tsugaru Mirai, an agricultural cooperative in Aomori Prefecture, is focusing on exporting the fruit to respond to growing demand in the Asian markets, shipping 60% of high-grade Gunma Meigetsu overseas. Amid aging of farmers and climate change, the number of yellow apple varieties with high sugar content is … Continue reading

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Sweet potatoes taking root in Naraha Town, Fukushima Prefecture

FUKUSHIMA, Nov. 7 – Sweet potato acreage is expanding in Naraha Town, Fukushima Prefecture. The town has expanded the production acreage to approximately 50 hectares and opened one of Japan’s largest storage facilities in cooperation with a private company. The evacuation order due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and the accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Station was lifted seven years ago. Since then, the town has been steadily recovering with its focus on sweet potatoes. On a sunny day in late October, Tomio Ikari, 67, dug for plump sweet potatoes. “Everyone here used to grow them privately in the garden,” recalled the chairman … Continue reading

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