5th April 2022
Lemons, grapefruits and oranges are the types of citrus fruit that most of us know about. In Japan these types of citrus fruits are mostly imported. They are imported from countries such as the USA, Chile and South Africa.
The main citrus fruit that is grown in Japan is called a みかん(mikan) in Japanese. It is a type of mandarin orange – a small type of orange that you can peel1 easily. Tangerines are a type of mandarin orange.
The mikan is called a satsuma in English. The name satsuma is based on the name of an old area in Kyushu. That area is now called Kagoshima Prefecture. This satsuma orange was thought to have originated in the Kagoshima area and was introduced to the West2 from satsuma trees and fruit taken from Kyushu. This fruit is well known in the English speaking world and it’s interesting to think it is based on the name of an old place in Kyushu but is not called by the name ‘Satsuma’ in Japanese.
Citrus fruit hybridizes3 quite easily, both naturally and artificially4 and because it hybridizes easily there are many types of citrus fruits that are not well known. In Japan there are fruits such as デコポン(dekopon) that are quite sweet but some such as はっさく(hassaku) have a tart5 taste. Many of the citrus fruits in Japan seem to have a bitter taste as much as a sour taste.
A well known citrus fruit in Japan is 柚子(yuzu) which is similar to a lemon. This has become popular in some countries in the West as a condiment6 or as a seasoning7.
There are a wide range of condiments in Japanese cuisine and citrus fruits are part of this culture. The Japanese word for condiments such as peeled yuzu is 薬味 (yakumi). Other examples include cut spring onions on fried rice or wasabi with sashimi. Yakumi doesn’t include things like salt and pepper so the meaning is a little different to the English meaning of condiment.
Yuzu has a good aroma8 and a strong taste. It is often used to flavour sauces and is used to flavour drinks such as wines and cocktails. You can often see yuzu flavoured sweets (candies) and cakes too.
Citrus fruits grown in Japan have a winter image. Satsumas are mostly available in January and February and the yuzu fruit which is seen in shops from around December has a tradition of being used in baths on the shortest day of the year (December 21st or 22nd) to ward off9 evil. The yuzu tree is able to withstand10 cold temperatures and this strength in withstanding the cold, dark days was said to help to continue to ward off evils for humans as the days get lighter after the shortest day. The nice aroma and the warming of the people’s skin from the juice or skin of the yuzu itself might also be part of the tradition!
Due to a decrease in the numbers of farmers largely because the young generation don’t want to do farming and also due to an increase in the number of typhoons in recent years, the amount of citrus fruit grown in Japan has decreased in recent years.
Regarding young people not wanting to do farming you can understand their thinking when you think fruit farming can be a lot of work. Some types of citrus fruit in Japan are individually11 wrapped on the trees to protect them from the cold.
When thinking about the typhoons, the winds badly damage the trees and in recent years the typhoons have a huge amount of rain and the typhoons have hit the citrus growing areas on the Pacific Ocean side of Japan such as Shikoku and Wakayama particularly hard. Citrus fruits generally like sunny and dry conditions so all the rain that comes with the typhoons is not helping the situation.
Another reason for the decrease in the amount of citrus fruit being sold is that the younger generation is not eating so much of it. It is said that many young people think peeling the fruit takes too much time.The price rises due in part to the decrease in the amount of citrus fruit being grown must be another reason for people, particularly the young, buying less fruit in general. It seems citrus fruit is being used more and more as flavourings or as condiments rather than being eaten whole as a fruit.
9. to ‘ward of’ ~
<Example sentences>
■ The farmer put big, plastic birds in the field to ward off the real birds.
■ People throw beans on Bean Throwing Day to ward off evil spirits.
■ My mum always says to me eating fruit will help ward off colds.
10. to ‘withstand’ ~
<Example sentences>
■ Most modern houses are built to withstand earthquakes.
■ The team’s defence withstood the other team’s attack well.
■ The thick, wool coats sheep have helps them withstand the cold winter winds.
■ When I think of citrus fruits I think of ～.
■ What things are flavoured with yuzu？
■ Could you imagine being a farmer working with the citrus fruits?
■ To try to ward off colds I ~. What about you ~ ?
■ What do you call a mikan orange?
■ When I was at school we sometimes had different types of citrus fruit with our school
lunch. ~
■ If someone says the word ‘aroma’ to you what food or drink do you imagine?
■ Do you know the yuzu fruit?
- to ‘peel’ fruit or vegetables means to take the skin off them.
- in this meaning ‘the West’ means Europe, North and South America and Australia and New Zealand.
- ‘hybridizes’ means to produce ‘hybrids’. A ‘hybrid’ is a plant or animal that has been created from two different types of plants or animals.
- ‘artificial’ means created by humans not naturally.
- ‘tart’ in this meaning means a sharp or acid taste, not a smooth or sweet taste.
- a ‘condiment’ means something that is added to food after it has been cooked. Salt, pepper, mustard, sauces, dressings, nuts and olive are examples of condiments.
- ‘seasoning’ means something that is added to food when cooking it, for example salt and pepper.
- aroma means the nice smell from food and drink.
- to ‘ward off’ a bad thing means to stop a bad thing affecting you before it comes to you.
- to ‘withstand’ something means to survive it and not be broken by it.
- ‘individually’ means one by one, not together.