one of the “three great agriculturalists” of early modern Japan Short biography Born 1768 into a farmer’s household in Hita, Bungo Province (present-day Oita Prefecture) Years of travel and settling in the Kansai region Beginning of his publishing activities, relocation to Edo Consultancy at various domains Relocation to Edo and Osaka Death It is unclear … Read more
Kubota radish and Kikuchi radish I have no idea to which degree the radishes of Higo (present-day Kumamoto Prefecture) were famous, the sources I’ve discovered so far report of two radish names that were apparently cultivated: Kubota and Kikuchi. It is also interesting to see that the sources that mention Higo radishes were rather early … Read more
Satsuma is the old province name for the now Western part of Kagoshima prefecture and place of one of the most famous radishes. Satsuma radish owns a reputation of being very big and heavy, and you expect it to be rather tough and woody due to its size. Yet it is soft in fiber, which … Read more
Don’t throw away radish leaves! They can be made into something delicious. Quickly and withought any fuss. Dried radish leaves: This is an old recipe from a Japanese lady who grew up in the Tōhoku aera recalling dried radish leaves and other dried vegetables to be an important feature in local Tōhoku cuisine. She said … Read more
In the past, radish, wasabi (Japanese horseradish), and ginger were not merely condiments that enhance the flavor of a dish, they also functioned as a kind of agent to fight the bacteria on raw fish, tofu and other easily perishable food. That’s what the old Japanese texts claim (radish as medicine – the sources (part … Read more
Radish is good for your health. At least, that’s what the old texts say. By old texts, I mean sources from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. These are sometimes difficult to understand because they use a traditional medicinal concept to explain the benefits of radish. For a rough overview of this concept, please go … Read more
Radish is healthy. Although not everyone likes it. For some, radish causes winds, others have to belch after the consumption. Whether it causes problems or not mostly depends on the way it is prepared. There are so many ways you can prepare and eat radish. As a pickled vegetable (The origin of takuan), stewed in … Read more
in progress
It came as a big surprise to me to witness such a rich choice of different radishes and thriving production areas in the various sources. And in order to give you an idea about the information I’ve found in these books, I think the best thing is to jump straight into one of these texts: … Read more
In search of identity: how daikon became daikon Why write a blog post about the different names of radish? Actually, I was not aware that an ordinary vegetable, such as radish, could have so many identities, and the quest into the names even became somehow adventurous. So, let’s get started. I made out four main … Read more