Early-Blooming Peach Blossoms, a Specialty of Kawanishi, Bloom Again This Year / Kawanishi City, Hyogo Prefecture

The Kamo district in Kawanishi City, Hyogo Prefecture, is one of the prefecture's leading production areas for early-blooming peaches.

As April arrives, the vibrant peach blossoms dye the entire fields in brilliant pink, signaling the arrival of spring.

The peach harvest is scheduled for mid-to-late June each year.

Masayuki Ota (66 years old), a farmer who grows 'Hikawa Hakuhou' and 'Hanayome' peaches in the Kamo district, cultivates about 50 peach trees on approximately 1,000 square meters of land.

This year, the flowers began to bloom around mid-March and reached their peak in early April.

The peach blossoms are about 4-5 centimeters in diameter, and the peach trees are about 2 meters tall.

As spring arrives, the peach blossoms bloom beautifully during this season.

After the flowers fall, fruit thinning ('tekika sagyo') will be carried out from around May, and 'bagging' ('fukurokake') will take place around mid-May. Bagging is done to protect the fruit from pests and prevent it from turning reddish-black due to excessive sun exposure, by covering each peach fruit, which has grown to a few centimeters in size, with a bag.

After bagging, the main harvesting work will begin around June.

Mr. Ota commented, 'It will be busy until the harvest, but I will do my best to deliver delicious peaches again this year.'

Specialty Peaches of Kawanishi: In the Kamo and Kushiro districts, approximately 40 farmers cultivate early-blooming varieties such as 'Hikawa Hakuhou' on about 4 hectares of land. Approximately 60 tons are shipped annually, mainly to the Keihanshin area.