Preserving the Sugihashi Red Turnip, Passed Down for Over 150 Years with Deep Hometown Pride

Tsuruga City, situated in southwest Fukui Prefecture, faces Wakasa Bay and is occupied in large part by mountains and forests. Sugihashi is a small settlement nestled between the mountains, and it is the location where the Sugihashi Akakanba has been continually grown for more than 150 uninterrupted years.
"The word kanba originally referred to a variety of pickles. This area is covered under heavy snows during the winter, so people would pickle their red turnips at the start of winter and eat these pickles with meals throughout the season. The vegetable is an integral part of culinary culture around here. Long ago, these mountain slopes were used for growing Sugihashi Akakanba using the slash-and-burn method." So explains Kazuo Yamaguchi, a farmer who was born and raised in Sugihashi and serves as head of the Sugihashi Akakanba Growers Association. In the latter capacity, he organizes grower activities and is involved in processing and sales for pickled turnips and other products.

A One-of-a-Kind Flavor and Form, a Source of Local Pride

"Sugihashi was once a center of limestone quarrying. Shortly after World War II, however, the quarries disappeared, and it became the quiet village you see today," says Yamaguchi. "However, we've managed to continue growing the Sugihashi Akakanba, which is a vegetable species native to the area." The Sugihashi Akakanba is a large, red turnip. As one unique physical characteristic, it extends fibrous roots on both its east- and west-facing sides while in the ground. When cut open, the turnip is white inside with a red band through the middle.
Adds Yamaguchi, "When you eat the Sugihashi Akakanba, it has a mildly bitter flavor typical of this turnip type. But if you leave it in the ground without harvesting in the fall, letting it remain buried beneath the winter snow, that bitterness turns into a sweet flavor. It's quite a task to dig through the deep snow and pull them out of the ground in winter, but it always makes me happy in a way few other things can to see that red turnip emerge. There's no other turnip with the same look or flavor; The Sugihashi Akakanba is a source of pride for our community."

A Vegetable That Reflects the Soil and Climate of Sugihashi in Tsuruga, Fukui

Currently, this turnip is grown only in Sugihashi. According to Yamaguchi, however, it was once cultivated throughout the entire Arachi region. But improved turnip varieties were developed, offering a more uniform appearance, increased resistance to disease, and greater ease of cultivation. As a result, many people turned away from the Sugihashi Akakanba, leaving only eight households still growing it today.
"Some have tried taking it to Tokyo and growing it there, but it didn't go too well," says Yamaguchi. "The clayish soil here, along with the alkaline soft water filtered through local limestone, bring out the defining characteristics of the Sugihashi Akakanba. The elevation here, which is 150 meters above sea level, is also perfect for this turnip. Finally, the snowfall is a must for bringing out its sweet flavor. Ultimately, native-species vegetables are truly suited to the places where they originally come from."

Continually Developing New Approaches to Preserve the Sugihashi Akakanba for Future Generations

The members of the Sugihashi Akakanba Growers Association produce about 5,000 turnips annually. However, they only reached half of this number in 2025, topping out around 2,500 turnips. The reason was damage caused by wild animals as a result of global warming. Yamaguchi elaborates: "The snow normally starts to fall around mid-December every year, and snow cover reaches three to four meters at its peak. From that point onward, you don't see the ground until spring. However, in December of '25 and January of '26, there was very little snowfall, and the snow that did fall melted away quickly. As a result, the deer, monkeys, and other wildlife came by and ate our turnips, which had always been protected by snow cover in the past."
Moreover, the previous year saw no rain whatsoever following seed sowing, causing much of the crop to wilt and die. That year, Yamaguchi says he decided to use the turnips he grew primarily for seed collection. "Plants used for seed collection are moved to a distant growing plot so they won't crossbreed with other brassica crops. Crops for consumption are harvested in the winter, but those used for seed gathering are cultivated until May. I had a tough year in '24, but I managed to collect a good amount of seeds, while also harvesting a meager 300 turnips. But I counted that as a win, given the circumstances."
Farmers no longer know how climate conditions will change from year to year, nor do they know what challenges will face them next as a result. "That's why I keep trying out new approaches every year—to make for a stronger Sugihashi Akakanba harvest later on," says Yamaguchi, who remains optimistic. "I want to try seed planting in spring, but the low temperatures make it difficult for the plants to germinate. The net made with SOLAMENT™ can generate its own heat, so by laying this out, I think I may be able to raise the ground temperature and successfully sow in the spring. I have the responsibility of preserving a vegetable that has been around for more than 150 years, so I really hope to find good cultivation methods and pass it on to future generations."

A Wish to Grow and Share Sugihashi Akakanba Here in This Region

In order to preserve the Sugihashi Akakanba, it's important to not only grow the crop, but to have more people eat it and enjoy the outstanding flavor for themselves. Yamaguchi keeps this in mind while running his soba (buckwheat noodles) shop—another business of his in addition to turnip farming. He actually opened this handmade soba shop 15 years before he began cultivating Sugihashi Akakanba. Including his initial period as a trainee, Yamaguchi has been making buckwheat noodles for more than four decades. His shop has garnered a massive fan following, with customers visiting Sugihashi from all over Japan and even other countries just to try the noodles. The "Sakura Chirashi Gozen" meal set, which includes Echizen soba made using buckwheat flour native to Fukui Prefecture and chirashi-zushi (raw fish and other ingredients scattered over rice) containing Sugihashi Akakanba is a popular menu.
"I'm always so happy when people tell me, 'That tasted great! I'll be sure to come again.' It motivates me to try for even tastier Sugihashi Akakanba and soba, and has been an increasingly strong driving force behind everything I do," says Yamaguchi. "Even though I started my noodle shop and turnip growing operations as separate businesses, they naturally came together. Nowadays, I see them as one single operation, not two, and both are essential in my mind."

The biggest motivation behind Yamaguchi's endeavors is his love for Sugihashi, the place where he was born and raised. Ever since his youth, he has had a strong desire to further vitalize his hometown. During his years as a white-collar worker, he traveled to and lived in various parts of the country, but he never had any real desire to be anywhere except Sugihashi. "The Sugihashi Akakanba has more than 150 years of history here, and the environment is perfectly suited to its cultivation. That's why this turnip will never really leave Sugihashi. Therefore, it's my hope that new people will come along and take in the culture and history of Sugihashi itself together with that of the turnip, so that they can take over as growers and continue the tradition."