Where to go fruit picking in Japan

Cherries, melons, blueberries, peaches, grapes, pears and more. What better way to enjoy them than to pick your own? Find out exactly when and where in Japan you can do so.

CHERRY

These red jewels ripen at the beginning of summer, usually between May and July, ready to land into your woven baskets. In the Yamanashi prefecture of Japan, located southwest of Tokyo on the island of Honshu, there are many farms (either cherry farms or mixed) to satisfy your cherry picking excitement. Check out the farms at Minami Alps City, Koshu City and Kawaguchiko among many others. Beyond that, if you’re in Tokyo, you can head to Higashimurayama City. Ohashi Cherry Farm in Hokkaido is also popular among fruit enthusiasts!

MELONS

Between June to mid-August, you can visit melon farms in Hokota City in the Ibaraki prefecture. There is also the melon-only Irago Seaside Farm in the Aichi prefecture. In the Shizuoka prefecture, there is the Kashima Harvest Farm and the Izu Fruit Park to make a visit.

BLUEBERRIES

Between July and August, you can head over to many farms growing these blue beauties among other fruits but there are in fact many blueberry-only farms in Japan. Some include the Zao Blueberry Farm, with over 10,000 blueberry plants of different varieties, in Miyagi, Sekiaen Farm, with 2,000 plants, in Kazuno City of the Akita prefecture, as well as the Okudaisen Blueberry Farm, with 17,000 blueberry plants and 47 varieties, in the Tottori prefecture.

PEACH

Next up are peaches which ripe towards the end of the cherry picking season. You can find them in abundance between late June to early September. While Yamanashi will be an option to collect peaches while picking cherries and other fruits around late June, you could also head out to areas like the cities of Kobe and Himeji in the Hyogo prefecture, as well as Lidzuna Town and Nakano City in the Nagano prefecture.

White peaches in Okayama are indeed to die for and to get the “best flavour of Japan” or so it is often described, you can travel down to the Tomomien Fruit Farm and Nishiyama Farm.

GRAPE

Ripe around the same time as peaches, grapes are available from July to October. Grapes are hugely popular in Japan and there are many farms for you to collect them. In Kumamoto prefecture of Kyushu, you can head to Asu City and Minamata City, and if you’re in Osaka, the farms in Kawachinagano City and Kashiwara City will be a fantastic place! Marukei Orchards and Maruhara Orchards in Fukushima offer grapes during the season too!

MIKAN ORANGES

Available to tantalise our tastebuds from October to January, these juicy seedless fruits are farmed in places like Minamiboso City in Chiba, Fukaya City and Chichibu-mura village in the Saitama prefecture. They are also farms in the Shizuoka, Kumamoto and Aichi prefectures!

See more: The must-try fruits when traveling to Japan

Source: Internet