The harvesting of yukiguni, or 'Snow Country,' lemons grown in greenhouses in Yamagata Prefecture has begun again in 2023. One of the fruit farmers is Hiroaki Ishioka, age 62.
"We will likely have 850 lemons to harvest, which is significantly more than last year," Ishioka reports with a smile.
Providing Chemical-Free Lemons to Cancer Sufferers
Most years, snow nearly a meter deep covers the ground outside Ishioka's greenhouse. But this year, there are only the scattered remains of a December snowfall. While the temperature outside hovers around freezing, inside the greenhouse, it's a comfortable 12-13 degrees Celsius.
Ishioka explains, "In Yamagata Prefecture, temperatures vary by more than 10 degrees Celcius on over 100 days each year. These temperature extremes are what make it possible for us to produce such delicious fruit."
Read more at japan-forward.com
