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Tottori Nijisseiki Pear Museum
HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Tottori Nijisseiki Pear Museum
Tottori Prefecture
The Tottori Nijisseiki Pear Museum is the only museum in Japan showcasing the Asian pear. The Asian pear was introduced to Tottori in 1904 by Eiji Kitawaki, and in the over 100 years since, the prefecture has grown to be one of Japan’s major pear producers.
Here, you can quickly become an expert on the Asian pear. Learn about its history and how it grows via a model tree, videos, and panels. Step into the Pear Garden to see Nijisseiki (“20th Century”), a Yamanashi variety (the forefather of Japanese pears), and 10 other varieties of trees growing. Back in the main building, try your hand at wrapping pear buds in bags, just as the farmers do. In the Nijisseiki Theatre, watch animatronics reenact the traditional process of cultivating Nijisseiki pears, complete with historic farm tools.
The museum’s centerpiece is a giant tree with a diameter of 20 meters and branches that spread over the museum. It is the largest Nijisseiki pear tree in Japan. The entire tree, including a root system that spreads five meters underground, is displayed in a glass case. In 1999, this tree was able to produce 4,000 pears per annum despite being 74 years old. This is five times more than the 800 pears an average tree produces in a year.
Expand your pear knowledge even further in the section focused on pears from around the world. Here, you’ll find 70 realistic pear replicas, showing how the fruit was originally from China and traveled west along the Silk Road to become the European pear and east through Korea and Japan to develop into varieties of the nashi Asian pear.
Whatever time of year you visit, you can sample three types of pear in the Pear Kitchen Gallery and enjoy pear ice cream at the adjacent Nashikkokan.
By car: 10 minutes from Kurayoshi Station or 1 hour from the Yonago Expressway Yubara Interchange on Route 313.
By train: From Shin-Osaka Station, take a JR express train to Tottori Station (about 2 hours 5 minutes), then take the JR San-in Line limited express to Kurayoshi Station (about 30 minutes).
198-4 Dakyoji-cho, Kurayoshi-shi, Tottori-ken
Chugoku Region | JNTO Official Website
Tottori Prefecture | JNTO Official Website
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