Yamagata La France Pear (Yamagata): season, origin and where to buy

Seasonal calendar

Sales start around late October and continue into December.

Timing shifts with the weather and conditions in each region.

Official registration details (MAFF)

The registered description as published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Characteristics

Yamagata's la France pear fully expresses the superior qualities of this variety of pear--dense flesh, juiciness, distinctive fragrance, and delicious taste. High quality is maintained constantly and kept consistent across individual fruits. This has been achieved by rigorous implementation of community-wide quality control measures established by local producers, including well-managed pruning and fruit-thinning regimes, and timely shipping that allows time for post-harvest ripening.

Link with the production area

Prefectural government initiatives for encouraging the production of la France pears for fresh consumption began during the 1980s. Public-private partnerships embarked on the development of cultivation techniques, and in 1988, knowhow for forecasting harvest times, and methods of post-harvest ripening, both of which provided the foundation for the later establishment of "base dates" for shipping, was established by the prefectural lab for agricultural crops (today's Yamagata Integrated Agricultural Research Center Horticultural and Agricultural Experiment Station).Yamagata Prefecture is one of the country's most ideal locations for la France production. Reasons include smaller rainfall comparative to other prefectures between June and September, when risk of disease and pest is at its highest; and diurnal temperature ranges of between 9.4 and 10.3 °C during August and September, when the fruits store nutrients.

Characteristics and link with the area: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries website (https://www.maff.go.jp/e/policies/intel/gi_act/register/s99.html)

Where to buy

As a rule, only products that meet the registered standard may use a GI name (with exceptions such as prior use). Check for the GI mark and the place of origin to tell it apart from ordinary products with similar names.

Find on furusato nozei (opens in a new tab)Find online (opens in a new tab)

These links go to Japanese-language shops; check whether they ship overseas.

Some shop links on this page are affiliate links; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Hometown tax (furusato nozei) gifts are typically shipped between November and December.

FAQ

La France pears grown across Yamagata Prefecture. Growers carefully manage pruning and fruit thinning and time each shipment around the post-harvest ripening period, bringing out the variety's fine-textured flesh, abundant juice and distinctive, fragrant aroma.

Yamagata La France Pear is produced in Yamagata Prefecture.

Yamagata La France Pear is in season (harvested or shipped) in Oct–Dec. Sales start around late October and continue into December.

Look for it via furusato nozei (hometown tax donation) and online shops. Check the GI mark and the place of origin before you buy.

Yamagata La France Pear was registered as a Geographical Indication on August 19, 2020 (Registration No. 99). The registered producer group is Yamagata Prefecture La France Promotion Association.