The Development of Major Fruits Growing in Japan

UCHIYAMA Yukihisa

doi:10.24586/jags.6.2_83

This paper deals with the development of major fruits growing in Japan, and the land use change in Ojiama Settlement in Obuse Town, northeastern part of Nagano Prefecture. The results are summarized as follows: Grape, orange and chestnut were already grown in the Edo period. In the Meiji era, Apple, another variety of grape and peach had been introduced to Japan. The rapid expansion of fruits growing area in Japan was seen after the Second World War. But, after the second half of the 1970s, the area of fruits growing, especially Unshu-mikan （Satsuma Orange）, began to decrease. The main districts of Unshu-mikan growing are distributed in the southwestern Japan. The core districts of apple growing are the western part of Aomori Prefecture and the northern part of Nagano Prefecture. The core districts of grape growing are the central part of Yamanashi Prefecture and the northern and eastern part of Nagano Prefecture. The core districts of peach growing are the central part of Yamanashi Prefecture, the northern part of Nagano Prefecture and the northern part of Fukushima Prefecture. The core districts of Japanese pear growing were the northwestern part of Chiba Prefecture and the eastern part of Tottori Prefecture. A detailed survey of the land use in Ojima settlement, the largest agricultural settlement in Obuse Town, shows the following changes. In 1969, apple orchard and rice field took up most of the agricultural land, showing a very simple pattern of the land use. Between 1969 and 2005, the area of apple orchard decreased. The areas of peach orchards, vineyard and chestnut orchards slightly increased. In Ojima settlement, apple, grape and peach are grown intensively, whereas chestnut growing does not require much labor.

The Development of Major Fruits Growing in Japan

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