Red jewels from Yamagata Prefecture

In summer (usually July or August), many Japanese people send gifts called ochugen to their superiors, customers, relatives, etc. to express their gratitude and wish their good health. Yesterday, my parents got such a summer gift from the parents of their son-in-law. They live in Sendai in Tohoku District and send cherries from Yamagata Prefecture (also in Tohoku) to my parents every year. My parents used to send them tea leaves, but in recent years, they have sent beer coupons, a melon, etc.

Every year, as soon as they get cherries from Sendai, my mother goes out to deliver them to me, our relatives, and a neighbor to have us eat them up because cherries spoil quickly. In Japan, fruits can be very expensive sometimes. Cherries from Yamagata Prefecture are one of such fruits and called red jewels. We don’t buy them by ourselves but are glad to receive them as a present. Also this year, I got my portion like this.

As they look, the skins were beautiful and resilient. The pulps were thick and had a stronger sweet taste than I expected. Some people don’t like cherries because they may be just sour and not tasteful at all, but I though this kind of cherries can please even such people. They don’t betray our expectations.