Shimotsu kuradashi mikan with enhanced maturity ready for shipment in Okamoto’s storehouse (in Kainan-shi, Wakayama Prefecture)
Mandarin orange farmers in Shimotsu-cho, Kainan-shi, Wakayama Prefecture, are now in their busiest time of the year shipping out orders for their local specialty, Shimotsu kuradashi mikan (mandarin oranges).
The oranges were picked in December last year and have been stored in earthen-walled traditional Japanese storehouses called “kura” at a temperature of 5 to 10 degrees centigrade and at a humidity of around 85% to enhance the maturity of the fruit. The maturing process takes one or two months but it removes extra acidity from the oranges and makes them smoother and milder.
Yoshiki Okamoto, 57, vice head of the Shimotsu citrus group of JA Nagamine,
an agricultural cooperative in Kainan, Wakayama Prefecture,,puts his oranges in crates which are arranged like drawers on high shelves. The humidity of the air can vary depending on where in the storehouse the boxes are placed. So he frequently switches the boxes around to ensure that all of his oranges are of even quality.
JA Nagamine is planning to ship out approximately 3,000 metric tons of Shimotsu mandarin oranges by early March, including some for exports to Canada and Malaysia.
“I want to work even harder to sell more kuradashi mikan to overseas markets,” said Okamoto.
(Feb. 12, 2016)