Okinawan pineapple

Japanese Wikipedia dates Okinawa's first pineapple seedlings to 1868, taken from a Dutch ship that ran aground off Ishigaki. Today JA Okinawa names Higashi village, Nago, Ishigaki and Taketomi as the main growing areas. Okinawa grew about 10,000 tonnes in 2002, and imports from the Philippines make up about 99% of the pineapples sold in Japan, so a local pineapple is the exception in Japanese shops.

JA Okinawa grows two named types. Pocott pine is the Bogor variety that people call snack pine, because you break it apart segment by segment, and Jewary pine is the peach or Hawaii type. The prefecture spent about 20 years from 1989 developing the Gold Barrel variety, and the local pineapple association made 1 August Pine Day after imports were fully freed in 1990. JA Okinawa lists the production period as May to July, and Japanese Wikipedia notes a second natural crop from November to February, which puts some fresh fruit on February tables.

Nago Pineapple Park on Route 84 has a pineapple-shaped train from the car park and a winery that makes pineapple wine. On Kume-jima, Akamine Pine En sells juice all year and fruit in season, and Ishigaki's roadside juice stands press it fresh.