1929

One of the objectives of the expedition was to see the island of Sakurajima, the native land of the Sakurajima radishes, which are masterpieces of plant breeding. After reaching Kagoshima, where there is a small university, I talked to a professor of plant breeding with whom I went to Sakurajima the following day. The time could not have been better chosen. The radishes were just being harvested. I saw an exceptional sight. The best specimens of the Sakurajima radishes reach the weight of a pond [16 kg] and even more. On a wheelbarrow, by means of which the harvest must be taken away, there is room for only two or three of these radishes. Seen from a distance, one could mistake these vegetables for suckling pigs. Later on, at an exhibition in Seoul, Korea, I saw radishes which were two metres long and had been grown in light, littoral soils. We walked all over the island of Sakurajima, through some ten villages and tried to understand what had caused such a miracle to develop. Apparently, it is all matter of loose and fertile basaltic soils and persistent selection. The professor himself was unable to furnish any explanation concerning the development of this radish. It had been raised by the peasants of this island and selected under favourable conditions. That is all that can be said about this extreme variant. The Japanese peasants, plant breeders by nature, have skillfully combined their knowledge of the environment with a capacity for observation, so necessary for selection.

Photograph by Aaron Hertzmann.