Japanese with anime voice: episode89
Hello, I’m Sachi.
July 4 is Pear Day. You can already tell that this is a complete play on words, can’t you? This day was established as a day to commemorate the 20th century pear by the Committee for the Development of Towns that Value 20th Century Pears, located in Tottori Prefecture, where pear production is thriving.
20th Century pears are a famous specialty pear of Tottori Prefecture. They are juicy, with a refreshing taste that balances sourness and sweetness, and have a crisp texture. It is also said to be a 玄人 (kurouto) pear that is not only sweet. A 玄人 (kurouto) is someone who is a professional in his field. People who have eaten all varieties of pears have finally come to the end of the road, and the only way to describe the taste of this pear is that it is the 20th Century pear, which can only be described as perfect. You may wonder if there are people who are that particular about the taste of such pears, but I think there are probably people somewhere in Japan.
The pear fruit was introduced to Japan during the Yayoi period. The Yayoi period was 2300 years ago. It is amazing that pears were already in Japan 2300 years ago.
Incidentally, after pears were introduced to Japan, the first varieties of pears were repeatedly improved, and many varieties of pears have appeared since then. Among them, there is an especially interesting episode about the 20th Century Pear. In 1888, a 13-year-old boy living in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, happened to find a seedling that had been thrown away in a garbage dump, brought it home, and conducted his own cultivation research with his father. After nearly 10 years of trial and error between father and son, they succeeded in refining the fruit from the seedling. In Japan, there is a famous politician named Shigenobu Okuma, who showed great skill in finance and diplomacy during the Meiji and Taisho periods. Mr. Okuma heard about the successful cultivation of these pears, and when he actually tasted them, he was amazed at how delicious they were. He praised the taste of the pears highly, saying that they were very sweet and extremely delicious. The father and son also willingly shared their saplings with any farmer who wanted them. It is amazing, isn’t it, that they were willing to share the results of their 10 years of research. It is said that in the 1900s, one of the recipients gave the pear the name “20th Century Pear” in the hope that it would become a representative variety in the new century.
Since it is a famous specialty of Tottori, I thought it was a pear cultivated by a person in Tottori Prefecture, but in fact, it was a person in Chiba Prefecture. However, the fact that he succeeded in refining the fruit from seedlings is naturally an amazing feat, and the fact that he was able to increase the number of pears produced is also amazing. Even if he succeeded in refining the fruit, it would be meaningless if he could not increase the number of fruits produced. So, both are great accomplishments. But why is it that the production in Tottori, far away from Chiba, is the most prosperous? Is it because the climate in Tottori suits this pear well? Well, I am sure it must be.
But still, I can’t understand in my mind the process of refining fruits from saplings. If there is a sapling, doesn’t it usually produce fruit? I am not familiar with home gardening or agriculture, so I cannot imagine the cultivation process at all. Could it have been cultivated to bear fruit before it grew into a fruit tree, or something like that?
By the way, I’m amazed at the efforts of this father and son. This is truly the fruit of persistence. By the way, why did they try to grow fruits from saplings? Was the family originally a farmer? Actually, I have a desire to try something similar to what they did. But for now, it is just a desire. I would like to grow red wine grapes. I don’t like Japanese wines, in my opinion. Most of them are sweet and lack depth and astringency. I guess you could say they are easy to drink, but I would still like to see more depth and astringency. You may wonder from where I stand when I say that. I just think it would be better if the wine had a little more depth of flavor. I think that is the grape variety. However, I am sure that someone somewhere in Japan has already researched such a thing. If I had the money, space, and time to do so, I would like to give it a try. As usual, I have too many things I want to do. I really do.
