There are about 70 varieties of citrus fruits throughout the year here in Kamiakizu.From fall to summer, you can enjoy various types of citrus fruits depending on the season. Goku wase Mikans are available from around September and others such as Hina no Hime Nichinan 1 go and Ueno wase used to be popular for Sports Day dessert. The peak season for Unsyu Mikans is December.Placing Unsyu Mikans on a Kotatsu is a classic and nostalgic picture of Japanese life. Many farmers in Kaimakizu say that Miyagawa wase, (Unsyu Mikan) is the best of all citrus fruits. We call all citrus fruits which ripen after January Ban kans The Ponkan and Kiyomi orange, as well as the Shiranui which is a combination of Ponka n and Kiyomi orange are “ There are also the Setoka orange,Sanbokan, Amanatsu, and Seminole orange.Have you ever heard oh them or eaten them? There are many varieties of citrus fruits available in May and April, so it is hard to choose which ones to eat. In May, Mikans are in full bloom. When you visit at this time of year, the air is full of the sweet and sour scent of Mikan flowers. Valencia Oranges ripen in July and are the last citrus fruits of the year.And again, the calendar of citrus fruits in Kamiakizu begins with Goku wase Mikans in September. Now,let me introduce some citrus fruits with unique stories in Wakayama. Kiyomi Orange is a mother of many citrus fruits. It was developed at NARO’s Institue of fruit tree and tea science’s Citrus Reasearch Station in Okitsu, Shizuoka. It was named after Seikenji Temple near by the research institute. Harumi orange and Akemi orange were also developed there. Harumi orange was crossbred with Kiyomi oranges’ and Ponkans and Akemi orange were crossbred with Kiyomi oranges and Seminorus orange A funny story has been told about the origin of their names: research students who were involved in breeding the oranges named them after girls who worked at a snack bar near the research institute.‘ Sanbo kan was named after a wooden alter, which was used when people dedicated something to deities or sent something to a noble person, called sanbo in Japanese. During the period of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a Sanbo kan tree was discovered in Wakayama castle, and with fruits of a rare shape and good taste, it was offered to a local lord by placing it on the wooden alter which was called Sanbo. It is not only a traditional citrus fruit, but has strong characteristics of Japanese citrus” with elegant deep green leaves, calm yellow skin, and subtle and mild sweetness with gentle acidity. It is a pure Wakayama citrus, rarely produced elsewhere. Yuasa cho and Tanabe city are the main production areas, but the yield is decreasing. In the 1960s, there were about 2,000 tons in Wakayama, but now there is one quarter of that a production. The The nonnon--bitterbitter skinskin ofof SanboSanbo--kankan doesndoesn’’tt loselose itsits shapeshape eveneven whenwhen steamed,steamed, soso itit isis usedused asas aa servingserving dishdish forfor ChawanChawan--muhsimuhsi andand sherbetsherbet inin JapaneseJapanese restaurantsrestaurants inin Tokyo,Tokyo, Kyoto,Kyoto, OsakaOsaka andand soso on.on. The bestbest seasonseason forfor SanboSanbo--kankan isis fromfrom MarchMarch toto earlyearly April,April, soso itit isis representativerepresentative ofof thethe springspring flavorflavor ofof WakayamaWakayama citrus.citrus. Valencia OrangesOranges withwith theirtheir richrich flavorflavor andand sweetnesssweetness comecome outout inin summer.summer. Domestic Domestic ValenciaValencia orangesoranges areare onlyonly producedproduced inin WakayamaWakayama Prefecture,Prefecture, andand KamiakizuKamiakizu isis thethe mainmain productionproduction area.area. Valencia orangesoranges areare saidsaid toto bebe fromfrom Valencia,Valencia, inin Spain,Spain, however,however, theythey areare actuallyactually fromfrom thethe PortuguesePortuguese Republic,Republic, andand werewere introducedintroduced toto FloridaFlorida andand CaliforniaCalifornia inin thethe UnitedUnited StatesStates viavia thethe AzoresAzores IslandsIslands inin thethe AtlanticAtlantic OceanOcean inin thethe 19th19th century.century. A SpaniardSpaniard whowho workedworked atat thethe farmfarm namednamed themthem ValenciaValencia OrangesOranges sincesince theythey werewere similarsimilar toto orangesoranges inin Valencia.Valencia.The flowersflowers ofof thethe ValenciaValencia orangesoranges bloombloom inin MayMay thethe samesame asas otherother citruscitrus fruitsfruits however,however, theirtheir fruitsfruits ripenripen thethe latestlatest ofof allall citruscitrus fruitsfruits inin July.July. From floweringflowering toto harvest,harvest, itit takestakes aboutabout 200200 daysdays forfor UnsyuUnsyu Mikans,Mikans, butbut ValenciaValencia orangesoranges taketake aboutabout 400400 days. They passpass thethe winterwinter whilewhile thethe fruitfruit ripen,ripen, soso eacheach oneone isis coveredcovered byby aa bagbag toto protectprotect itit fromfrom winterwinter coldnesscoldness andand birds.birds. Without Without itit’’ss protectiveprotective bag,bag, thethe colorcolor ofof ValenciaValencia orangesoranges peelpeel changeschanges backback fromfrom yellowyellow toto greengreen duedue toto takingtaking inin chlorophyllchlorophyll andand moisture:moisture: thisthis isis calledcalled thethe regreeningregreening phenomenon.phenomenon. Please eateat ValenciaValencia orangesoranges afterafter coolingcooling themthem inin thethe refrigerator.refrigerator. There areare moremore varietiesvarieties ofof citruscitrus fruits,fruits, soso pleaseplease looklook aroundaround thethe display.display.