Mito no Yawaraka Negi

Mito no Yawaraka Negi is a registered Geographical Indication (GI) product, a special variety of green onion (negi) cultivated in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, particularly in and around the city of Mito. It is produced using cultivation techniques that allow its long stems to grow straight without bending, enabled by the soil layers found in the Mito region.

Characteristics and Quality

The distinguishing feature of Mito no Yawaraka Negi is its softness. Its white stem portion is longer than that of ordinary nebuka-negi varieties and has low tensile strength, making it prone to breaking. In terms of flavor, it offers sweetness due to high glucose levels and a mild pungency resulting from low pyruvic acid content.

Production Area and Method

This green onion is cultivated in an area encompassing the city of Mito, the town of Ibaraki, and the town of Shirosato in Ibaraki Prefecture. The production area includes alluvial plains of the Nakagawa River basin and plateaus of the Kanto Loess Formation. These regions have soil layers deep enough to accommodate the onion’s long roots and benefit from long daylight hours and rare typhoon damage, making them ideal for greenhouse cultivation.

Onions are typically grown in plastic greenhouses. Instead of the traditional method of earthing up to elongate the white stem and prevent bending, techniques such as covering the stems with shading film are employed. During harvest, only onions with long white stems are carefully extracted from the soil to avoid breakage and rapidly packed into specially designed bags to preserve freshness before being brought to market.

History and Development

The consumption of green onions, along with garlic and Japanese leeks, in the Mito region dates back to ancient times. During the Edo period, texts such as “Shokusairoku,” written by Tokugawa Nariaki and documenting local recipes, mention green onion as a food consumed in the region. The development of the modern “Mito no Yawaraka Negi” gained momentum in 1981 when local farmers began collaborating to discover methods for cultivating high-quality nebuka-negi. This effort led to the emergence of today’s production technology. In 1999, a group of farmers was established under the Mito Agricultural Cooperative to promote the cultivation of this onion, leading to its organized and widespread adoption.