No one eats Japanese mikan anymore?

Japanese mikan consumption down 50% in 20 years

According to J-Cast, Japanese families with over two members in 1988 ate an average of 32 kg of mikan every year. That total for 2008 was a mere 15 kg -- a 50% drop in two decades.

Although increased competition from imported fruit is partially to blame, some analysts believe that Japanese eaters may find the peeling the mikan rind annoying. So now there are pre-peeled frozen mikan also available on the market. Yet that has not solved the problem.

Besides the economic issue for mikan producers, this old Japanese winter custom of sitting under a kotatsu and eating mikan also appears to be in danger. The modern day ritual of sitting on a couch in front of a gas heater just goes much better with an apple.

In other news

Maki Goto criticized for hair color: When singer Maki Goto attended her mother's wake on January 27, the media criticized her for having chapatsu brown hair rather than traditional black. Perhaps this is the best time to show a modicum of sympathy, media.

Magazine "AnAn" explains how not to get married: Konkatsu blog Tokyo Meet Market looks at a recent "AnAn" list of women's lifestyle choices that lead to not being 'chosen' by men for marriage. Call us crazy, but we thought women had a choice in the matter too.

Ichiro Ozawa gaffes about Obama: The DPJ's Secretary General -- currently under investigation for alleged financial misdoings -- recently stated "In America, the people chose to change the country and change their world, to the degree that they selected a black guy Mr Obama." (our translation). That may have not been the best phrasing of that idea.