🍱 Boiled Peanuts
Originating in the Andes mountains of South America, peanuts entered Japan via East Asia in 1706. They were first cultivated in Okinawa, but their production began in earnest in the Meiji era (1868 - 1912). As well as Chiba, the main peanut producing areas also included Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Kagoshima, Tochigi, Nagasaki and Shizuoka prefectures. In Chiba, peanut farming was first trialled in 1876, in the Kujukuri Plain around Nango village, Sanbu district (now part of Sanmu city). The following year, the governor encouraged the prefecture's residents to grow them, and cultivation areas spread out from Asahi city. The peanut varieties of that time were susceptible to drought, however, and their planting gradually decreased. In the Taisho era (1912 - 1926), drought-resistant varieties were imported from China to the farmlands around Yachimata, and their cultivation boomed. They are currently grown throughout the prefecture, particularly in the Shimosa Plateau. Peanuts are adaptable, and suitable for growing in areas of well-drained volcanic ash soil. Chiba prefecture, located in the Kanto loam where volcanic ash from Mt Fuji and Mt Hakone lies thick, grows the most peanuts of anywhere in Japan, accounting for over 70% of the nation's output. They command a high market price, with many being used for cooking and processed foods. "Boiled peanuts" are a seasonal item in the areas they are grown, and are only made with peanuts freshly picked from the fields (fresh peanuts quickly begin to harden and lose their flavour once they are harvested; they will not taste very good if they are not boiled as soon as they are dug up).