Fruit

All of Yamanashi Prefecture

Can you believe Yamanashi has been a major fruit producer for 1,300 years?!

Yamanashi boasts the biggest yields of grapes and peaches of any prefecture in Japan. Besides grapes, Yamanashi also grows pears, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, Japanese plums... Just why is there so much fruit production in Yamanashi? The reason lies in Yamanashi’s weather – low annual precipitation and extreme differences in heat and cold help create sweet, juicy fruit. It is said that grape production began in the area 1,300 years ago.

An abundance of fruit all year round. Yamanashi also boasts amazing variety!

Fruit is harvested in Yamanashi year round, with strawberries gathered from winter to spring, peaches and cherries in the summer, and grapes and pears in the autumn. A great number of difference varieties of each fruit are also grown – there are over ten types of grapes alone grown in Yamanashi, including Delaware, Pione, and Pirotte Bianco. 90% of the peaches sold in Tokyo were grown in Yamanashi; popular varieties include the most commonly grown Hakuho and the large Asama white peach.

If you want to taste the freshest flavors of the season, try fruit picking.

One fun activity to enjoy in the fruit paradise that is Yamanashi is fruit picking. Fruit picking involves going to an actual working farm or orchard to choose and pick your very own fruit; you can also enjoy what you pick right on the spot! If you go strawberry picking, you can pack up and bring back what you don’t eat to finish later or to give as a gift. Tasting the fruit you’ve just pulled off the vine while surrounded by the lush greenery of a farm is something else! You’ll practically be able to feel the fresh fruit juice washing through you! Each type of fruit has its own season, so it’s best to time your visit with the harvest period for the fruit you’d like to eat.