Aomori Prefecture's annual apple harvest is 370,000 tons, the highest in Japan! But how much is 370,000 tons?
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Even if you don't live in the Tohoku region, many people know that apples are a specialty of Aomori Prefecture.
The amount of apples harvested in Aomori Prefecture in 2023 was a whopping 374,400 tons .
While you may understand that this is a large amount, it's hard to imagine how much that actually is.
Here, we'll explain just how much 370,000 tons is and provide a brief introduction to Aomori Prefecture's apples.
Aomori Prefecture has the highest apple harvest in Japan!
The national apple harvest in 2023 603,800 tons .
374,400 tons will be harvested in Aomori Prefecture , meaning that 62% of the nation's apples are produced in Aomori Prefecture Japan in terms of apple harvest volume .
In second place is Nagano Prefecture, famous for its apple production, but its harvest volume is 106,900 tons, just over a quarter of Aomori Prefecture.
In third place is Iwate Prefecture with 31,600 tons, in fourth place is Yamagata Prefecture with 30,300 tons, in fifth place is Fukushima Prefecture with 18,500 tons, and in sixth place is Akita Prefecture with 16,300 tons, meaning that the Tohoku region alone accounts for nearly 80% of the total.
Approximately half of the apples grown in Aomori Prefecture are Fuji apples,
followed by Tsugaru, Ourin, and Jonagold, each accounting for approximately 10%.
The three varieties other than Tsugaru are known for their excellent storage properties, making them great for enjoying year-round
24,155 large truckloads of apples
Apples harvested from the orchards are transported to wholesale markets around the country.
Approximately 40% of the apples shipped outside Aomori Prefecture are shipped to the Kanto region, followed by the Kinki and Chubu regions, with these three regions accounting for approximately 75% of the total.
About 90% of apples produced in Aomori Prefecture are transported by truck.
So, let's think about how many trucks 374,400 tons of apples would fill.
Ypy31 – Own work, CC0
, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70313266
The Hino Profia FR heavy-duty truck can carry 15.5 tons of cargo per vehicle,
so to transport 374,400 tons of apples, 24,155 heavy-duty trucks would be required.
The total length of the Profia is listed as 11,990 mm.
The total length of a large truck is set at 12 m, so this length seems to be aimed at the limit.
For the purposes of this calculation, let's use the round number 12 m.
If 24,155 large trucks were lined up with zero distance between them, the total distance 289.96 km .
If they were lined up on the Tohoku Expressway from Aomori Interchange in Aomori City, they would not only leave Aomori Prefecture, but would also exceed the 288.3 km distance that passes through Kosaka Town and Kazuno City in Akita Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture, and the Tsukidate Interchange in Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture
*Most sections of the Tohoku Expressway have two or more lanes on each side, but it is assumed that there will be only one lane
As you can see, this is still quite a long distance, but the assumption of zero distance between vehicles is unrealistic.
Trucks traveling on the expressway need a certain distance between them. Let's assume a following
distance of 88 meters (you may want a larger distance, but we've used this number to simplify the calculations), meaning that each truck occupies 100 meters of road space, including the length of the truck itself.
This means that the length of the convoy of 24,155 large trucks is
2,415.412 kilometers The length of the expressway connecting Aomori Interchange to Kagoshima Interchange in Kagoshima City , Kagoshima Prefecture, is roughly 2,000 kilometers, so this convoy is even longer.
Can you imagine the staggering amount of apples harvested in Aomori Prefecture each year?
The equivalent of 749 freight trains
As you can see from the article, as a railway fan and former railway worker, I would also like to consider transporting the apples by freight train.
The 12-foot containers commonly used on freight trains can carry 5 tons of cargo, and each container freight car can carry 5 containers, meaning that each car could carry 25 tons of apples.
Let's put 20 of these cars together and have them towed by the EH500 electric locomotive that pulls freight trains on the Tohoku Main Line
(Japan's longest container freight train is a 26-car train, but I don't think it operates in the Tohoku region).
The EH500 is 25 meters long, and the container cars are approximately 20 meters long, for a total length of 425 meters with a load capacity of 500 tons.
To transport 374,400 tons of apples, 74,880 containers and 14,976 container cars would be required, meaning a total of 749 freight trains would need to be operated.
The total length of these 749 freight trains would be 318.325 km.
The idea is to run these trains from Aomori Station on the Tohoku Main Line (formerly the Tohoku Main Line, including the Iwate Galaxy Railway Line and Aoimori Railway Line), which is active in freight transport in northern Japan.
Aomori Station (Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture) → Aoimori Railway Line (121.9 km) → Metoki Station (Sannohe Town, Aomori Prefecture) → Iwate Galaxy Railway Line (82.0 km) → Morioka Station (Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture) → JR Tohoku Main Line (112 km) → Ishigoe Station (Tome City, Miyagi Prefecture)
The total distance is 315.9 km, so if it were to be transported by freight train, it would still require a string of trains from Aomori Prefecture to northern Iwate Prefecture
Considering the distance between trains, the minimum distance is 600 meters, and realistically, trains would run at least 1 kilometer apart. Assuming each train occupies 1,500 meters, 749 freight trains cover 1,122.425 kilometers.
This is the distance from Aomori Station to Kiyosu Station in Inazawa City in northwestern Aichi Prefecture, via the Aoimori Railway Line, Iwate Galaxy Railway Line, JR Tohoku Main Line, Musashino Line, and Tokaido Main Line, passing through Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Tochigi, Ibaraki (only via Koga City), Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, and Aichi.
Considering the distance between trucks, the distance is shorter than Kagoshima, but it's still an enormous distance.
There are seven times more apple trees than people
Aomori Prefecture, with its high apple yield, is naturally home to many apple trees. While
the exact number is unknown, based on the land area used for apple cultivation in Aomori Prefecture being approximately 24,100 hectares, it is estimated that there are approximately 8.39 million apple trees. To
put it in perspective, the population of Aomori Prefecture was 1,237,984 as of the October 2020 census, meaning that there are about seven times as many apple trees as people.
Why is apple production so popular in Aomori Prefecture?
Apples as eaten in Japan today were introduced to the country in 1871, at the beginning of the Meiji era.
Cultivation began in Aomori Prefecture in 1875 when three seedlings distributed by the national government were planted on the grounds of the Aomori Prefectural Office.
After that, the number of apple farmers in Aomori Prefecture steadily increased, and Prefecture had the most apple orchards in the country
Apples are a fruit that thrives in cool climates, and in terms of temperature, they were the perfect fruit to grow in the Tohoku region.
This can be seen in the high harvests in each prefecture of the Tohoku region and Hokkaido.
There are also several other reasons why apples became popular in Aomori Prefecture, such as the fact that apples were a better source of income for farmers in Aomori than other crops, that apples could be grown even in years when rice could not be harvested due to cold damage, and the fact that there were people who enthusiastically spread information about apple cultivation methods and how to protect them from pests.
Enjoy delicious apples from Aomori Prefecture
Aomori Prefecture boasts the highest apple harvest in Japan, and apples are an essential tourist resource. There are
many apple-related tourist spots, such as Apple Road in Hirosaki City, where you can enjoy the atmosphere of apples, Hirosaki Apple Park, and Namioka Roadside Station "Apple Hill" in Namioka City, where you can experience apple picking.
Apples are not just for looking at, they are also delicious to eat.
This media introduces several ways to enjoy Aomori apples.
Please take a look for reference.
A former railway engineer and current freelance writer who has loved trains since childhood, his dream is to make train travel his career
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