Strawberry

June in Japan is the start of Summer in Japan. It is very warm right now and getting hotter when July comes. However, I would like to talk about what to do in Japan when Winter come! In Japan, I would recommend everyone to reserve everything in advance so that you will not lose your opportunity for the best thing!

In winter many places in Japan will be covered in white color of snow. It is beautiful and calm. As I came from country that does not have snow, I was so impressed with the beautiful snow. When snow came, it is a sign of “STRAWBERRY” season starts in Japan! Japanese strawberry is basically sour and sweet. Yep, Japanese strawberry’s sweetness is different from Thailand. There are many kinds of strawberry in Japan.

“AMaOU” is a famous strawberry from Fukuoka prefecture in Kyushu area. The name of AMaOU came from the combination of 4 Japanese words, “A”mai(Sweet), “Ma”rui(Round), “O”kii(Big), and “U”mai(Tasty). The name of AMaOU is the best description for this strawberry. AMaOU is sweet but has low sugar content, so you don’t have to worry too much about diabetes!

“AWAYUKI” is a light orange strawberry from Kagoshima prefecture in Kyushu area too. AWAYUKI color is very unique. The color of outside AWAYUKI is light orange and white flesh. The feature of AWAYUKI is the moderated crunchy hardness. Even though the color of AWAYUKI seems unripe and not so sweet, when you first bite it you will be surprised with the sweetness of AWAYUKI! There is a white strawberry name “Hatsukoi no Kaori(Scent of first love)”. Hatsukoi no Kaori is whiter and sweeter than AWAYUKI. Of course, the price is higher than AWAYUKI too. The reason why Japanese people say it is the scent of first love is that, when people have a first love, the feeling and face turn into pink color like “Hatsukoi no Kaori” strawberry. It is now became a famous luxury gift for wedding and other special event. However, sugar content in Hatsukoi no Kaori is quite high, so please be careful about diabetes too.

There is a place call “Kingdom of Strawberry” in Japan. It is Tochigi prefecture. This prefecture is the number one production and sales of strawberry in Japan. 90% of strawberry growing in Tochigi calls “Tochiotome”. The number of “ Tochiotome” equals to 30% of overall strawberry growing in Japan too. The color of Tochiotome is fresh red with light red flesh. The taste has a good balance of sweet and sour. The best feature of Tochiotome is the strong sweet smell!

Even though the strawberry itself is sweet, Japanese also use condensed milk​ to eat with strawberry. Different from other countries those dip strawberry with chocolate. The mild test of sour and sweet with the smell of milk from condensed is a taste that will make your day!

You can enjoy eating strawberry by buying it from supermarket. However, if you are in Japan around winter season, you have to try “IchigoGari(Strawberry hunting)”. At ichigoGari, you can pick fresh strawberry from the garden. There are many IchigoGari farms in Japan but most of the farms open IchigoGari in limited period, especially in winter. Please check the farm website and reserve in advance so you won’t lose your time and opportunity to enjoy eating “all you can eat” fresh strawberry too. Most of the farm will provide condensed milk to dip strawberry. The length of time that you can eat strawberry is varying depend on the farm start from 30 minutes. The farm will also provide scissor for picking strawberry. You have to cut strawberry from the branches and leave about 1 cm of stem. The price range would start from 1500 yen to 2500 yen.

Not only IchigoGari, you can also enjoy many kinds of fruit hunting in Japan such as orange, blueberry, grape, and etc. depend on the area and season in Japan. If you love cultural tourism, fruit hunting in Japan is fun and delicious!