The Sakurajima radish or Sakurajima daikon ( ja, , ''Sakurajima

daikon Daikon or mooli, ''Radish, Raphanus sativus'' Variety (botany), var. ''longipinnatus,'' is a mild-flavored winter radish usually characterized by fast-growing leaves and a long, white, root. Originally native to continental East Asia, daikon ...

'') is a special

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

of the

Japanese radish is a generic term for radish in Japanese language. For example, European radish is called in Japan. In the West, the word ''daikon'' sometimes refers to long white Asian radish varieties and sometimes Japanese radish varieties. When it is nece ...

named for its original place of cultivation, the former island of

Sakurajima Sakurajima ( ja, 桜島, literally "Cherry Blossom Island") is an active stratovolcano, formerly an island and now a peninsula, in Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan. The lava flows of the 1914 eruption connected it with the Ōsumi Peninsula ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Kagoshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2 (3,547 sq mi). Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto P ...

. It is the biggest

radish The radish (''Raphanus raphanistrum'' subsp. ''sativus'') is an Eating, edible root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae that was domesticated in Asia prior to Roman Empire, Roman times. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, be ...

variety in the world. Its regular weight is about , although big ones can be as much as . It grows as large as in diameter. It is also sometimes known in Japanese as ''shimadekon'' (, "island daikon"). The three varieties are early, middle, and late, but the most commonly encountered form is the late. The seeding period is from last August to first September and the harvest season is from December to February. To reach full size, special care needs to be taken with the region's volcanic-ash soil.

Names

In English, the Sakurajima radish is also sometimes known as the Sakurajima island giant radish, giant daikon, or jumbo daikon.

Uses

Sakurajima radish has a fine texture and is low in fiber. It is sweeter than other varieties of Japanese radish. In

Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese: ) is based on rice with miso soup and other ...

, it is typically prepared by simmering to produce dishes such as '' furofuki daikon''. '' Kiriboshi daikon'' and ''

tsukemono are Japanese preserved vegetables (usually pickled in salt, brine, or a bed of rice bran). They are served with rice as an ''okazu'' (side dish), with drinks as an '' otsumami'' (snack), as an accompaniment to or garnish for meals, and as a ...

'' are popular prepared foods which also employ the radish. The large size of ''tsukemono'', '' senmaizuke'', is sold in souvenir shops in

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

History

Three theories are given about its development: # An origin from an original wild daikon in Sakurajima # An origin from '' hōryō daikon'' in

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

# An origin from ''

kokubu daikon was a city located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on February 1, 1955. As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 55,237 and the density of 450.88 persons per km². The total area was 122.51 km². On November 7 ...

'' ('' hamanoichi daikon'') An 1804 mention of Kagoshima in reference to the giant Sakurajima radish shows it was cultured before then at least. The main production was north-west of Sakurajima, but it was moved to the north later. About 1200 farm houses had about of growing area in total in the high season. Sakurajima radish is one of the most precious local commercial crops. Also, in every harvest season, the ''toikae'' (

Kagoshima dialect The , often referred to as the , is a group of dialects or dialect continuum of the Japanese language spoken mainly within the area of the former Ōsumi and Satsuma provinces now incorporated into the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima. It m ...

for "market") was held in Kajiki (now part of Aira District) and people traded Sakurajima radishes with straw. However, the main crop was shifted to

satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sou ...

(''mikan'') from Sakurajima radishes, because the area of Sakurajima suffered so much damage from a 1914 eruption of the nearby volcano, decreasing the growing area to about by 1955. Furthermore, its growing area was decreased to about owing to ashfall between then and 2001. The main growing districts of now are the suburbs of Kagoshima city and Kirishima city. Because of fewer eruptions recently, the growing area has been extended.

References

*今村知子　『かごしま文庫51　鹿児島の料理』　春苑堂出版、1999年、 *串間俊文　『かごしま文庫26　鹿児島の園芸植物』　春苑堂出版、1995年、 *橋村健一　『かごしま文庫13　桜島大噴火』　春苑堂出版、1994年、

External links

JA Kagoshima Mirai Specialty products Sakurajima radish
{{Japanese food and drink Asian radishes Root vegetables Japanese cuisine terms