Batata, Camote, Kumara, Satsumaimo, Sweet Potato, Sweetpotato all refer to "Ipomoea batatas," one of the world's major crops. This page is primarily devoted to the sweetpotato in Japan.
Follow the links to find out more than you ever thought you would want to know about this humble, often belittled crop.
In central Japan,
sweetpotato slips are generally planted in late May or early June. Planting
by hand is common throughout Japan as seen in this photo.
Interested in trying your hand at making sweetpotato "bonsai" (Japanese meaning a "miniature planting")? Or, how about growing sweetpotato in bag?
Autumn is the sweetpotato digging season in Japan. This Okayama Prefecture
site advertises
October sweetpotato digging for tourists.
(Text in Japanese, but the photos are nice.)
National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), Japan
Sweet Potato Breeding
Laboratory
Kyushu National Agricultural
Experiment Station (KNAES), Japan
Laboratory of Sweet Potato Breeding
Kagoshima Prefecture is the main producer of sweetpotato in Japan. Some Kagoshima sweetpotato products are introduced here.
Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture
The Kawagoe area was once famous for its sweetpotatoes which were shipped
to nearby Tokyo, but farmland has gradually been converted to urban use.
The remaining sweetpotato fields have been largely given over to other crops.
However, the Kawagoe area remains innovative in its use of sweetpotato.
Available in Kawagoe are a small sweetpotato
museum, a restaurant that serves full-course sweetpotato
meals, a variety of sweetpotato
confections, sweetpotato ice cream, sweetpotato beer, and more.
(Text in Japanese, but the photos are nice.)
Bibliography Related to Sweetpotato in Japan
Non-Japanese Sweetpotato Sites
Prepared by Barry Duell. Last modified Sept.
22, 1997.
Send email to bduell@tiu.ac.jp