‘Miyagawa Wase’－A Mandarin Orange Born in Yanagawa－

The Tachibana family continued to govern the Yanagawa domain until the end of the Edo period. In 1869, the last Lord Akitomo returned his right to rule over the land and people to the emperor because of the plan of Hanseki-hokan, and moved to Tokyo. In 1874, Akitomo’s son Tomoharu became the 14th head of the family. He was honored as a count in accordance with the Peerage Law. In 1889, he moved his home back to Yanagawa in Fukuoka Prefecture.

Tomoharu thought that improving agriculture would be in the nation's best interest, so he established a large-scale agricultural experiment station in Yanagawa in 1886. He planted various kinds of seeds that were collected from inside and outside of Japan.

Tomoharu was particularly focused on production of citrus fruits, largely due to a mild climate that supports citrus production in Yanagawa. This supportive push, led to the creation of a yearly competition of citrus fruits. He invited the participation of people. As a result, the cultivation and quality of mandarin oranges was greatly improved.

Dr. Miyagawa Kenichi grafted a tree, which received from Tomoharu’s experiment station, onto a trifoliate orange tree in his garden. He then exhibited this orange tree at the competition. This tree served as the first of what would eventually become the  early maturing mandarin variety known as ‘Miyagawa Wase.’ These widely popular, high-quality mandarins are still produced in Japan today.

In 1929, Tomoharu’s son, Akinori, became the 15th head as well as the count and took over the Tachibana family’s farm. To spread Japan’s first, early maturing mandarin, He started a fruit farm and named it ‘Kikko-en.’ Since then, the Kikko-en has been run by the family up to the present. A terraced orange grove, made of stone walls built by Akinori, still remains today.

At present, Kikko-en orchard is still being run by the Tachibana family and the14th Head Tomoharu’s spirit for agricultural promotion has been passed down from generation to generation.

The Tachibana family’s farm, which cultivated commercial crops, was purchased by Yanagawa City in 1996. Two-thirds of the site was developed into a park named ‘Tachibana Ikoi no Mori Park’ in 2000. The name of the park was chosen from entries from the citizens of Yanagawa.

On the precincts of the shrine adjacent to the park, there is a great 300-year-old wisteria tree. It has been designated as a natural monument of Fukuoka Prefecture. This mature tree reaches its peak bloom with massive flowery clusters in late April and gives off a nice fragrance floating through the park.