The harvest of Akamori/Fukaura brand carrot "Fukaura Snow Carrot" is now at its peak.

The carrots are harvested from December to March at a farm on the Sea of Japan side where you can see the Shirakami Mountains. According to Masato Sakamoto, representative of the Henashi Kogyo Agricultural Association (Fukaura-cho, Nishitsugaru-gun), carrots that are dug out under the accumulated snow not only increase sugar content in the cold, but also grow in the ground longer than usual, so they are ripe. It is said that It is said that the sugar content is 9 degrees on average immediately after harvesting, and high sugars may exceed 12 degrees.

The planting farming association ships about 7 tons of carrots a day, and ships them both inside and outside the prefecture. On the farm, around 20 local women harvest from around 8 am to 16:00, and at the collection point, the carrots are sorted for processing, fresh food, and washing work. “In recent years, the number of individual purchasers has increased. There are also many repeaters,” says Sakamoto.

"Because of the lots of rain last fall, this year's performance is often smaller than normal," says Sakamoto. "In December, the weather wasn't stable as the snow piled up and melted. It snowed in the strongest cold wave last weekend, and the harvest is about to begin."