As I sit to write this article, the autumn leaves are changing color in the northern hemisphere, and the harvest season is in full swing. Here in Western Pennsylvania, apples are in season, and there are breathtaking sights to behold on road trips into the hinterland beyond Pittsburgh in pursuit of those changing fall colors. During one such recent visit to the Springs Folk Festival in Somerset County’s remote Elk Lick Township, I noticed apple and pear butter for sale and found myself thinking back to the various apple-flavored drinks and snacks I enjoyed from my local konbini when I lived in Sendai.
Today, apples in Japan come in many varieties, with arguably the most famous to Americans being the Fuji. The northern Tohoku region is known for apple production, especially in Aomori Prefecture. But clearly, there wasn’t a centuries-old tradition of apple cultivation– it isn’t as if there were bushi (warriors) drinking apple ramune or merchants selling apple daifuku. So where did it begin? The answer– as a specialist in the Bakumatsu period— had been under my nose for longer than I thought.

Table of Contents
ToggleThe Bakumatsu Bearing Fruit
Apples, in general, are not new in Japan, as Chinese pearleaf crabapples (malus asiatica) have been there since the 8th century, following importation from China. But the history of western apple cultivation in Japan is very recent, only dating to the Bakumatsu (1853-1868) period. And it is the Hokuriku region, and especially to house Maeda of the mighty Kaga domain, to which the earliest credit is due.
Kaga domain, at over 1 million koku in size, was the biggest feudal domain of the Edo period. Consequently, the daimyo of Kaga was the wealthiest man in Japan after the shogun, as well as sitting atop his own microcosm of related, smaller domains — most notably neighboring Tōyama and Daishōji.
Meet the Maeda
The domain’s ruling family, the Maeda, cast a long shadow in Japanese history in general and Ishikawa Prefecture in particular. Indeed, the Maeda clan had the distinction of being the first to start regular trips to Edo, from even before it was required by Shogunate law to do so. By doing this, the Maeda helped set the precedent that grew into the alternate attendance regulation. It also appeared in Winnifred Bird’s Eating Wild Japan, which I recently reviewed for Unseen Japan, in a subchapter on the harvesting of wild seaweed: newly moved from their former Kyushu home, a community of divers made a gift of abalone to the daimyo (lord), who granted them residence in Hegura Island and land on the mainland to build a community.
The Maeda clan even appears regularly in period dramas: longtime NHK drama viewers might remember the 2002 Taiga drama Toshiie to Matsu, which told the story of Maeda Toshiie and his wife Matsu, and the people– especially the women– who held the clan together in its rise to power. Meanwhile, in modern Tokyo, Tokyo University’s Red Gate (Akamon) is one of the last, most visible vestiges of the old main Maeda estate in Edo. It is a visual, tangible reminder of how the Maeda family came to Edo in style, in power, and in great numbers, as well as being a mark of its relation to the Shogun. It’s formally called a Goshuden Gate, and only a daimyo who married the shogun’s daughter could have a gate of that type.

Kobayashi Issa, a poet of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, wrote a poem that might give some sense of scale as to the Maeda daimyo’s retinue on journeys to and from Edo:
Planning a trip to Japan? Get an authentic, interpreted experience from Unseen Japan Tours and see a side of the country others miss!

"Noah [at Unseen Japan] put together an itinerary that didn’t lock us in and we could travel at our own pace. In Tokyo, he guided us personally on a walking tour. Overall, he made our Japan trip an experience not to forget." - Kate and Simon S., Australia


We hate paywalls. Our content remains both free and fiercely independent. If you love the values we stand for and want to help us expand our coverage of Japan, consider a recurring or one-time donation to the Unseen Japan Journalism Fund today.
The rearguard
drew into the mist:
the lord of KagaAto tomo wa
Kasumi hikikeri
Kaga no kami
Apples at the Apex
But another, subtler point of lingering Maeda influence in modern Japan is in the cultivation of western apples. Fukui, another Hokuriku domains ruled by a daimyo who was a close kinsman of the shogun, soon followed the Kaga example and experimented in western apple cultivation. This was in its own lower estate in Sugamo, not too far from Itabashi; they are sometimes credited with the earliest western apple cultivation in Japan, but theirs was in 1866, 11 years after the Maeda.

Maeda Nariyasu (1811-1884) was daimyo of Kaga from 1822 to 1866, with an impressive 44-year tenure compared to some of his contemporaries. He was one of a number of daimyo of his time who were forward-thinking and curious about the adaptation of western developments in technology, military organization, medicine, and beyond. Nabeshima Naomasa (1815-1871) of Saga domain ordered the development of naval construction and steam technology in his domain, even going so far as to hire Tanaka Hisashige, an early roboticist. Matsudaira Katamori (1836-1893) of Aizu domain engaged the services of the Prussian Lehmann-Hartmann company in developing his military resources. And in his own domain’s program of experimentation with western technology, goods, and ideas, Maeda Nariyasu ordered the growing of western apples.

Shifting Appetites
The Bakumatsu period, in general, was a time of change in Japanese agriculture and cuisine, due to the reduced restriction on foreign imports. It was, for instance, the era that saw the first growth in popularity of both coffee and beer, as well as bread. In this broader context, the importation of western apple cultivars is a little less surprising.
Nariyasu had the saplings planted at his estate in Itabashi (modern-day Itabashi city, Tokyo). This was not his primary estate, which boasted the Akamon. Rather, it was the shimoyashiki, the lower estate. All daimyo had at minimum one each of upper, middle, and lower estate in Edo; some even had multiple of each, around the Shogun’s city. The Itabashi lower estate, used by the clan since the reign of 5th generation daimyo Maeda Tsunanori (1643-1724), was more than just a residential compound for the daimyo away from the more crowded environs closer to Edo Castle. It also had agricultural fields, a forest, and even a duck pond; plenty of room in which the daimyo and his retinue could reside, and do much more besides.
It saw more than just apple cultivation in the Bakumatsu, too; the clan also undertook a cannon-casting project there. This and the rest of Kaga domain’s efforts, as with other domains in Japan in this period, were driven by the aftermath of the USA’s Perry Mission to open Japan. Nariyasu was a kinsman by marriage to the shogun; indeed, he had the Akamon built after his marriage to Yasuhime, daughter of 11th shogun, Tokugawa Ienari. So, it is perhaps not so surprising that Kaga was even entrusted with security duty at the Tokugawa’s own Zōjōji Temple in Shiba, during Perry’s incursion. In all, the swiftness with which Kaga got to work after Perry’s mission in exploring these new directions in engineering and agriculture is notable.
Eat Apples, and That’s an Order
One significant record for this project comes from a Maeda retainer named Ogawa Sennosuke (1828-1909). An attendant (kinju) to Nariyasu, Ogawa had accompanied Nariyasu on that alternate-attendance cycle to Edo. His journal records the following:
“24th of the 12th month. Fair weather, strong frost. Around the time of the third bell this morning, there was an earthquake.
The apples brought from America last spring were entrusted to forester ashigaru to plant, and have now been harvested. Thus, His Lordship [Nariyasu] ordered his household to partake of the apples spread over small crackers. All of the attendants were also ordered to partake.”
That the Maeda clan had forester ashigaru is in keeping with other daimyo clans’ retaining of foresters, rangers, and other stewards of plant and animal life in areas under their control. (The Date clan of Sendai even had gamekeepers who managed bell crickets!)
Planning a trip to Japan? Get an authentic, interpreted experience from Unseen Japan Tours and see a side of the country others miss!

"Noah [at Unseen Japan] put together an itinerary that didn’t lock us in and we could travel at our own pace. In Tokyo, he guided us personally on a walking tour. Overall, he made our Japan trip an experience not to forget." - Kate and Simon S., Australia


We hate paywalls. Our content remains both free and fiercely independent. If you love the values we stand for and want to help us expand our coverage of Japan, consider a recurring or one-time donation to the Unseen Japan Journalism Fund today.
Considering that Nariyasu ordered the apples spread on mochi, the result of this experimental cultivation might best be described as a kind of jam or apple butter.
Wherefore art Thou, Western Fruit
But where did the apples themselves come from, if western apples were new in Japan? Ogawa says it was the USA. Yanagisawa Fumiko’s 2010 article on the subject, looking at both the Fukui and Kaga examples, concludes that it’s likely. Yet, in the case of Kaga’s apples in Itabashi, we don’t know for sure that the fruit in question came from the US. However, as quoted in Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron, published not long after Perry’s return to the United States, the roster of presents brought by the flotilla lists, all the way at the bottom, the following items:
1 box seed.
Large quantity of agricultural implements, &c, &c., &c.
Maeda Nariyasu was the most powerful daimyo in Japan, and he had a role in the military response to the Perry mission– indeed, his headquarters was at one of the Tokugawa family temples. As mentioned above, he was also a kinsman to the shogun by marriage. Finally, the Shogunate did re-gift things it received from others. While the list doesn’t specifically name apples, given all of the above and the timing of Ogawa’s journal entry, I think it’s reasonable to assume this was indeed the source of the Maeda apples.
The Maeda apple cultivation project did not grow into a commercial success; that came later. But chronologically, it was the first. Of course, today, apples of many kinds are ubiquitous in Japan, and apple candies, drinks, pastries, and more, can be found even in one’s local konbini.

One way or another, I’d like to think that Maeda Nariyasu would be happy.
Support independent media
UJ depends on the support of our readers to keep our content 100% free for everyone. Help us in our mission to create content about the Japan you don’t learn about in anime with a recurring or one-time donation to the UJ Journalism Fund.
What to read next

“Nothing But a Castle”: Nagoya Left Behind in Japan’s Tourism Rush
While some locals may not mind, businesses and city leaders are disappointed tourists are sleeping on one of Japan’s most populous cities.

Japanese Woman Murdered in Hungary After Embassy, Cops Ignore Her Pleas
The 43-year-old woman pleaded with the Japanese Embassy in Hungary for help. They told her to “talk it out” with her husband.

Why Aren’t Japanese Restaurants Happy to Have Chinese Tourists?
Are Chinese tourists to Japan ill-mannered? Why users on a popular Chinese social media app are lambasting their fellow citizens’ behavior.
Sources
- “Akamon Gate (Goshuden-mon of the former Maeda Clan’s Residence)” The University of Tokyo https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/whyutokyo/hongo_hi_007.html Accessed 20 October 2021.
- Samuel Pellman Boyer. Naval Surgeon: Revolt in Japan, 1868-1869. James A. Barnes and Elinor Barnes, eds. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1963), pp. 78-88.
- Harald Fuess, “The Global Weapons Trade and the Meiji Restoration: Dispersion of Means of Violence in a World of Emerging Nation-States.” pp. 83-110 of The Meiji Restoration: Japan as a Global Nation. ed. Robert Hellyer and Harald Fuess (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), pp. 96-97.
- Francis L. Hawks, Narrative of the expedition of an American squadron to the China Seas and Japan, performed in the years 1852, 1853, and 1854, under the command of Commodore M. C. Perry, United States Navy, by order of the government of the United States. (Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson, 1856), pp. 356-357. Archived at https://archive.org/details/narrativeofexped01perr/page/n5/mode/2up?q=see Accessed 20 October 2021.
- “Kagahan shimoyashiki no taihō seizō” 加賀藩下屋敷の大砲製造 Itabashi City, January 25, 2020. https://www.city.itabashi.tokyo.jp/bunka/bunkazi/jidai/1004917.html
- “Kufu shi tsuzuketa ‘Toyo no Hatsumeio’ Karakuri Giemon” 工夫し続けた「東洋の発明王」からくり儀右衛門https://web.archive.org/web/20140517152719/http://www.chiiki-dukuri-hyakka.or.jp/1_all/jirei/100furusato/html/furusato085.htm Accessed 21 October 2021.
- Mihara Ryōkichi 三原良吉. Kyōdoshi Sendai Mimibukuro郷土史仙台耳ぶくろ. (Sendai: Hōbundō, 1983), pp. 119-122.
- Toshio Tsukahira. Feudal Control in Tokugawa Japan: The Sankin Kotai System (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966), pp. 36-38.
- Consantine N. Vaporis. “Lordly Pageantry: The Daimyo Procession and Political Authority,” pp. 3-54 of Japan Review, No. 17 (2005), p. 13. Vaporis quotes the Kobayashi Issa poem about the Maeda daimyo, but I’ve opted to re-translate it.
- Yanagisawa Fumiko. “Fukui-han Sugamo Shimoyashiki no Ringo wo Megutte” 福井藩巣鴨下屋敷のリンゴをめぐって. Fukui-ken Monjōkan Kenkyū Kiyō (7) 福井県文書館研究紀要 (7) (2010), pp. 72-73. Archived at https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/10325045/1 Accessed 20 October 2021.