Tsunan no Yukishita Ninjin

Tsunan no Yukishita Ninjin is a carrot cultivated under deeply accumulated snow for three months or more from early winter to spring in Tsunan Town, one of the regions with the heaviest snowfall in Japan.
　Tsunan no Yukishita Ninjin is rich in amino acids, such as asparagine, a component of sweetness and umami taste, and caryophyllene, a component of flavor. The carrots have characteristics such as mild sweetness, umami taste, and good flavor.
　Because the unique sweetness and umami taste are highly evaluated, the carrots are traded at a high price at the market and in mass retailers to which they are shipped.

For the production of Tsunan no Yukishita Ninjin, a variety having excellent resistance to low-temperature and disease is used.
　Seeding takes place from late July through August to secure a sufficient level of growth before snowfall. After snowfall, the carrots are cultivated under deeply accumulated snow until around March of the following year. Harvesting is done by hand after removing snow in the fields.
　Shipping standards require that carrots be without any significant damage including disease or pest damage.

Tsunan Town is one of the regions with the heaviest snow in Japan, where snow may accumulate to three meters or more. The weather conditions are thus suitable for cultivating Yukishita Ninjin meaning a carrot grown under snow. Research in the region over the years has led to the establishment of a system to produce Yukishita Ninjin with good quality, contributing to the stable production of Yukishita Ninjin every year.
　Trial cultivation of Tsunan no Yukishita Ninjin started around 1975. The cultivation area was 3 hectares in 1982. However, as Tsunan no Yukishita Ninjin received increasing media coverage in magazines and so on, the total cultivation area grew to 18 hectares, with the amount of production increasing to 632 tons and the value of sales reaching more than 100 million yen, as of 2017.