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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Many people, even those who don't live in the Tohoku region, are likely aware that apples are a specialty product of Aomori Prefecture.
In 2023, Aomori Prefecture harvested a staggering374,400 tons.
While that's a large amount, it's hard to imagine just how much that is.
So, let's take a look at what 370,000 tons actually looks like, and give a brief introduction to Aomori apples.
Aomori Prefecture has the highest apple harvest in Japan!
In 2023, the total apple harvest nationwide603,800 tons.
were harvested in Aomori Prefecture374,400 tonsJapan's62% offrom Aomori Prefecture, making it the top apple-producing prefecturein Japan.
Nagano Prefecture, also famous for its apple production, comes in second, but its harvest is only 106,900 tons, just over a quarter of Aomori Prefecture's.
Third is Iwate Prefecture with 31,600 tons, fourth is Yamagata Prefecture with 30,300 tons, fifth is Fukushima Prefecture with 18,500 tons, and sixth 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 produced in Aomori Prefecture are of the "Fuji" variety.
"Tsugaru," "Ohrin," and "Jonagold" each account for about 10%.
The three varieties other than "Tsugaru" are characterized by their excellent storage properties,a major strength of the prefecture's applesis
24,155 large truckloads of apples
Apples harvested from the orchards are transported to wholesale markets throughout the region.
Approximately 40% of the apples shipped outside Aomori Prefecture go to the Kanto region, followed by the Kinki and Chubu regions, with these three regions together accounting for about 75% of the total.
Approximately 90% of apples from Aomori Prefecture are transported by truck.
Therefore, let's consider how many truckloads 374,400 tons of apples would fill.
Ypy31 heavy-duty truck – Own work, CC0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70313266,
A large Hino Profia FR truck can carry 15.5 tons of cargo per unit.
Therefore, to transport 374,400 tons of apples, 24,155 large trucks would be needed.
The Profia's overall length is
listed as 11,990 mm. Since the maximum length for large trucks is 12 meters, this length seems to be just within the limit.
Let's use a round number, 12 meters, for our calculations.
If you were to line up 24,155 large trucks with zero distance between them, the distance289.96 km.
If you were to line them up on the Tohoku Expressway starting from the Aomori Interchange in Aomori City, you would not only leave Aomori Prefecture, but also pass through Kosaka Town and Kazuno City in Akita Prefecture, and Iwate Prefecture, and thedistance to the Tsukidate Interchange in Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture is 288.3 km, so you would exceed that distance.
*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
You can see that this is still quite a long distance, but the assumption that they are lined up with zero distance between them is unrealistic.
Trucks traveling on highways need to maintain a reasonable distance between them. Let
's assume a distance of 88m between them (we might want more distance, but we're using this number for the sake of simplicity in the calculation), meaning that each truck occupies 100m of road space, including its own length.
Then, the length of a convoy of 24,155 large trucks2,415.412kmwould be
, Kagoshima PrefectureThe length of the highway connecting Aomori Interchange to Kagoshima Interchange in Kagoshima Cityis roughly 2,000km, so this convoy is longer than that.
Can you now imagine the astonishing amount of apples that Aomori Prefecture harvests in a year?
The equivalent of 749 freight trains
As you can see from the article,I am a railway enthusiast and former railway employee, so I would like to consider transporting them by freight train.
A 12-foot container, the type commonly used on freight trains, can carry 5 tons of cargo, and five containers can be loaded into one container car, so each car can carry 25 tons of apples.
Let's put 20 of these cars together and have them pulled by the EH500 electric locomotive that hauls freight trains on the Tohoku Main Line
(the longest container freight train in Japan has 26 cars, but I don't think it operates in the Tohoku region).
The EH500 locomotive is 25m long, and a container freight car is about 20m long, so the total length is 425m and the carrying capacity is 500 tons.
To transport 374,400 tons of apples, 74,880 containers and 14,976 container freight cars are needed, which means that a staggering 749 freight trains must be operated.
The total length of these 749 freight trains is 318.325km. Let
's consider lining up these trains from Aomori Station on the Tohoku Main Line (including the former Tohoku Main Line, now the Iwate Galaxy Railway Line and Aoimori Railway Line), which plays a vital role 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
If we consider the distance between trains, the shortest distance would be 600m, and realistically, they would run at intervals of 1km or more. Assuming each train occupies 1,500m, 749 freight trains would cover 1,122.425km.
This is roughly the distance from Aomori Station, via the Aoimori Railway Line, Iwate Galaxy Railway Line, JR Tohoku Main Line, Musashino Line, and Tokaido Main Line, passing through prefectures such as Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Tochigi, Ibaraki (only via Koga City), Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, and Aichi, to about Kiyosu Station in Inazawa City, northwestern Aichi Prefecture.
In the case of trucks, considering the distance between vehicles, it would go all the way to Kagoshima, so it's shorter than that, but it's still an enormous distance.
There are seven times more apple trees than people
Naturally, Aomori Prefecture, a major apple-producing region, has a large number of apple trees.
While the exact number is not known, it is estimated that there are approximately 8.39 million apple trees, based on the fact that the area of land used for apple cultivation in Aomori Prefecture is about 24,100 hectares. To
put this into perspective, the population of Aomori Prefecture was 1,237,984 as of the October 2020 national census, meaning there are about seven times more apple trees than people.
Why is apple production so popular in Aomori Prefecture?
The apples eaten in Japan today were introduced to the country in 1871, during the early Meiji period.
In Aomori Prefecture, cultivation began in 1875 when three saplings distributed by the government were planted on the grounds of the Aomori Prefectural Government building.
Subsequently, the number of apple farmers in Aomori Prefecture steadily increased, andby 1909, ithad the largest number of apple orchards in the country.
Apples are a fruit well-suited to cool climates, making them ideal for cultivation in the Tohoku region from a temperature perspective.
This is evident from the large harvests in various prefectures of Tohoku and Hokkaido.
In addition, there are several other factors that contributed to the thriving apple industry in Aomori Prefecture, such as apples becoming a better source of income for farmers than other crops, the fact that apples could be grown even in years when rice crops failed due to frost damage, and the presence of individuals who enthusiastically promoted apple cultivation methods and pest control techniques.
Enjoy delicious apples from Aomori Prefecture
In Aomori Prefecture, which boasts the largest apple harvest in Japan, apples are an indispensable tourist resource. There are many
apple-related tourist spots, such as Apple Road in Hirosaki City, Hirosaki Apple Park, where you can enjoy the atmosphere of apple orchards, and Michi-no-Eki Namioka "Apple Hill" in Namioka City, where you can experience apple picking.
And of course, apples aren't just beautiful to look at, they're delicious to eat too!
Our media outlet also features 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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