Okinawa Hai fallback

CONTRIBUTED BY JOELLE YAMADA

Staci tagged this onto another post this week, but I thought it deserved a post of its own.  So here’s her question:

“Anyone know where there is a mikang (small orange) farm where you can pick them? My son LOVES them…and we did it in Sasebo. I think the orange season is November? It would be a fun kid outing if anyone is up for it!”

I actually read something about this in my handy dandy Okinawa Explorer.  It says this:  “Orange picking season runs from October to February in the village of Izumi.  During this time of year, as different types of oranges are harvested, farmers open their fields to visitors for a small fee.  For information on orange picking, go to Mikan no Sato Izumi, which is next to Pain-en on Route 84 (look for the oragne sign) or ask at one of the fruit stands on Route 84.”

We were in the area this week while staying at Okuma and hoped to get over there to try it out, but alas, the boys fell asleep in the car after the Butterfly Garden and I just couldn’t be bothered to drag them out again.  SOOOO, please, please, pretty please, tell us if you’ve done this or if you know anyone who has or if you just want to share with us how much you love oranges!!!

11 COMMENTS

  3. Mikan season is in full-swing now. We were up in this area this weekend to go to Pizza in the Sky and to walk around in Bise, and there were literally stands selling these little oranges every 50 yards or so along Hwy 84. We didn’t do the actual picking because we weren’t sure where to go, but now is the time and with the cool weather this would make a great day trip.

  5. We went mikan picking in January 2006 and we stopped in at a store that sells mikans and plants. I think this is the Mikan No Sato Izumi place that Joelle mentioned in the post. We told someone inside that we wanted to go mikan picking. They led us to someone who we followed by car to an orchard nearby.

    We stopped by Mikan No Sato Izumi again today where we were told to drive a little further down the road. Not sure if they’ve done away with the system of having people lead you there or if we were just there too early in the mikan picking season.

    These places are both very close to each other so you can try either and see what works for you.

    Directions to Mikan No Sato Izumi:
    -Head up the Expressway towards Nago to the last exit.
    -Take Hwy 58 past the intersection for 449.
    -Turn LEFT onto Route 84 towards the Aquarium and Ocean Expo Park.
    -Mikan No Sato Izumi is about 5 km down the road on your right hand side. Here’s a link to a pic of their sign.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/15867283@N00/2040536418/

    To get to the orchard we went to today you need to pass Mikan No Sato Izumi by about 300 meters.
    -Take a RIGHT at this sign.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/15867283@N00/2040536448/in/set-72157603214504400/
    -Take a LEFT after about 100m at this sign.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/15867283@N00/2040536452/in/set-72157603214504400/

    We got bitten up pretty good by the mosquitoes so I recommend bringing bug spray!

    Also, Ufuya restaurant is close by so that’s a great place to stop by for lunch or dinner. Here’s a link to the Ufuya post.
    https://okinawahai.com/2007/03/ufuya-big-house.html

    Good luck and happy picking!

  6. We did this with ITT Feb ’06. 2 Adults a 4 year old and a 2 year old. Pretty much how it worked was we got to an orchard on a hill, were giving a bag and we could pick all we wanted and eat all we wanted for 30 min. 30 min later we handed our bags over to the owner of the orchard and were handed a half pound bag of oranges. We could buy more, but I felt so used.

  7. There are quite a few “mikan” orchards on Route 84. We went while on our way to the Aquarium. Most of them are family owned orchards and they give you a bag and allow you to pick as many as you can. Tangerine or “mikan” season begins in October…so pick now. Enjoy.

  8. I actually did this on my own one year. There’s a place to pick that’s just past the pineapple factory. The name’s all in Japanese but I think there is a picture of a mikan?? They give you bag and you follow them by car to the orchard. You pick and eat as much as you like and they charge you an incredibly cheap price per 100 grams or something. I’ll try and take a picture of the sign if we go up again. Julie

  10. Ok, so I didn’t know the info, but did know that Tours + and ITT both did tours to this event last year. So I went to the source and found this out: Orange/Tangerine picking season in Yanbaru(Okinawa) is from Oct to Feb. You can enjoy picking different types of Oranges/Tangerines almost every month. There is information desk in Izumi, Motobu-cho. Their phone number is 0980-47-2889. But I don’t know if they speak English…
    Both are planning there tours to this event around the January time frame.