Parveen MagheraJapan is home to an incredible number of fruit farms and fruit picking tours are slowly becoming an “in” thing. Well, that would be some tasty tourism, don’t you think? Read on to see what fruit you can pick in Japan and where you could head to.
CHERRY
Image credit: Robert Thomson
Starting off with cherries because cherries on the cake make everything nice. (Okay bad joke but read on nonetheless.)
These red jewels ripen at the beginning of summer, usually between May and July, ready to land into your woven baskets. In the Yamanashi prefecture of Japan, located southwest of Tokyo on the island of Honshu, there are many farms (either cherry farms or mixed) to satisfy your cherry picking excitement. Check out the farms at Minami Alps City, Koshu City and Kawaguchiko among many others. Beyond that, if you’re in Tokyo, you can head to Higashimurayama City. Ohashi Cherry Farm in Hokkaido is also popular among fruit enthusiasts!
MELONS
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Melons begin to mature about a month after cherries, so you’ve got many fruits to pick at the same time (see below for peaches, blueberries, apples and grapes). Fruit ninja afterwards, anyone?
Between June to mid-August, you can visit melon farms in Hokota City in the Ibaraki prefecture. There is also the melon-only Irago Seaside Farm in the Aichi prefecture. In the Shizuoka prefecture, there is the Kashima Harvest Farm and the Izu Fruit Park to make a visit.
BLUEBERRIES
Image credit: Etsuko Naka
Blueeeeeeeberries are my favourite, I have to admit! Yumz!
Between July and August, you can head over to many farms growing these blue beauties among other fruits but there are in fact many blueberry-only farms in Japan. Some include the Zao Blueberry Farm, with over 10,000 blueberry plants of different varieties, in Miyagi, Sekiaen Farm, with 2,000 plants, in Kazuno City of the Akita prefecture, as well as the Okudaisen Blueberry Farm, with 17,000 blueberry plants and 47 varieties, in the Tottori prefecture.
How many blueberries can I actually eat in one sitting, I wonder…
PEACH
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Next up are peaches which ripe towards the end of the cherry picking season. You can find them in abundance between late June to early September. While Yamanashi will be an option to collect peaches while picking cherries and other fruits around late June, you could also head out to areas like the cities of Kobe and Himeji in the Hyogo prefecture, as well as Lidzuna Town and Nakano City in the Nagano prefecture.
White peaches in Okayama are indeed to die for and to get the “best flavour of Japan” or so it is often described, you can travel down to the Tomomien Fruit Farm and Nishiyama Farm.
GRAPE
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Ripe around the same time as peaches, grapes are available from July to October. Grapes are hugely popular in Japan and there are many farms for you to collect them. In Kumamoto prefecture of Kyushu, you can head to Asu City and Minamata City, and if you’re in Osaka, the farms in Kawachinagano City and Kashiwara City will be a fantastic place! Marukei Orchards and Maruhara Orchards in Fukushima offer grapes during the season too!
PEARS
Image credit: Satoru Fujiwara
Towards the last two months of blossoming grapes, there are pretty pears ready for us to feast on! From September to October, or slightly longer, you can find all kinds of pears in various locations in Japan, including the ones already mentioned earlier in this article. Japanese pears, or otherwise known as Asian pears, are pretty fascinating to begin with.
One of the best places to head down to is Harigi in the Kochi prefecture, as it is immensely popular with its new brand of Niitake Pears. Another location of interest could be the Rifu Tourism Association Pear Orchard known to house a small farm of natural pears in the Miyagi prefecture. In Tochigi, you can head to more pear-only farms such as Kaneda Orchards and Nomura Orchards, while in the Chiba prefecture, there are Nashi no Ito Orchards and Takaai Pear Orchard.
APPLE
Image credit: t-mizo
Just a month before the grape season ends, apples mature beautifully all over Japan from late September towards the end of December! Apart from the farms in Hokkaido, Fukushima, Yamanashi and Nagano, you can also find fantastic apples in Kurioshi City and Hirosaki City in the Aomori Prefecture. In fact, the Hirosaki Apple Park is Japan’s largest apple production farm!
The Yasuno Apple Orchard and Saito Sightseeing Orchards in the Yamagata prefecture are great places to head to while in the Akita prefecture, the city of Kazuno will excite you with its produce! There are a couple of apple-only farms in Chiba as well! This is so apple-tising!
STRAWBERRY
Image credit: jenthero
How can anyone not love strawberries? (Even if you don’t fancy them, no grudges here my friend. Peace.)
Strawberries are almost everywhere in Japan when in season. From December all the way to end May, you will be able to enjoy strawberry picking activities in the mixed and single fruit farms located in Hokkaido, Yamanashi, Aomori and Yamagata but there are plenty of strawberry-only farms in other less popular places too! In Tochigi, you can travel down to Ojimanoen Farm and Nikura Farm, while in Fukuoka, you can visit the White Berry farm. In Iwate, there are the Salad Farm Strawberry Forest and Mogu Mogu no Sato Strawberry Farm, the latter known for its sachinoka strawberries. If you’re in Tokyo and can’t head out further, you can try the Niikura Farm for a quick strawberry picking experience.
MIKAN ORANGES
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Japan’s orange season lasts between late autumn to winter, and the well-known ones in the country are the Satsuma oranges, otherwise referred to as mikans!
Available to tantalise our tastebuds from October to January, these juicy seedless fruits are farmed in places like Minamiboso City in Chiba, Fukaya City and Chichibu-mura village in the Saitama prefecture. They are also farms in the Shizuoka, Kumamoto and Aichi prefectures!
These are only nine of over 20 fruits available all over Japan. We could go on and on! Is there a farm you had visited that deserves a mention? Share with us!
(Please note that season timings are not set in stone. What stated in this article are an approximate.)
