The fruit of the Lardizabalaceae family, "Mube," which is said to be the "fruit of longevity," is being harvested in a mountain village in Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto Prefecture.
"Mube" is a reddish-purple fruit of the Lardizabalaceae family that is in season in autumn, and is characterized by a slightly sweet jelly-like flesh.
It is said that the name comes from the fact that in the 7th century, Emperor Tenji ate the fruit that was given to him by an elderly couple as the secret of longevity and said, "Mubenaruka," which means "reasonable."
In the Nishigaki district of Yakuno-cho, Fukuchiyama City, we started cultivating "Mube" in a 700-square-meter field five years ago in an attempt to revitalize the region, and this is the harvest season.
The locals used scissors to carefully pick the ripe "mube" one by one.
This year, we worked on cutting and picking fruits in advance to reduce the number of fruits in a bunch to 3 or less, so the yield is expected to be about 1000, which is less than half of last year. It means that the fruit grows and the sugar content is high.
Chihiro Nakajima, chairman of the Nishigaki Neighborhood Association, who is cultivating, said, "This is a complete set of grains and has a sufficient sugar content. I hope everyone will eat it once."