The 2025 Honshu island’s autumn harvest of the specialty Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai), especially Housoi, is returning moderate volumes but sweet taste profiles.
In Tochigi Prefecture 100 km north of Tokyo, Utsunomiya City’s Nikkori pear harvest had reached its peak by October 20, 2025.
So far, fruit size of this cross between Niitaka/Shinko and Housoi is proving smaller than usual due to weather toll.
An early harvest due to growing season’s warmth has reduced the girth of the usually very large fruits but nevertheless added sweetness.
According to Asahi TV, growers are calling this an “excellent year” primarily due to the extra sweetness of the fruits.
By nature, Nikkori is generally a low acid, crispy sweet pear that can weigh over 1 kg apiece under conducive conditions.
Staff of Shimada Orchard in the city say that they are readying to distribute the sweet crop to Tokyo. The harvest for the variety ends early November .
Pear Mix: Kariya, Kosui, Housoi
Meanwhie in Sakata City on the Sea of Japan, the Housoi (Hosui), Kosui and native Kariya pear harvests are underway.
Like in Tochigi, the unit size is small due to low rain during the growth phase, with shipments just about average, per Kyodoshi news.
The Kariya Pear Shipping Cooperative cited on October 19 that their Hosui shipments will reach 6,000 5-kg cases while Kosui 21,000 boxes.
Despite the small sizes of the pears, the co-op still intends to avail their usual quantity this year before time runs out.
The sweet Kariya pear (13-14º Brix) has its harvest ending early November while Hosui’s is currently ending but Kosui’s extends till mid-November.
So, two prefectures are finishing the picking of the autumn specialty Housoi pear, along with its crosses or related cultivars. As such, below are statistics on Japan’s general pear riches.
Japan Pear Statistics
The Japanese pear or Pyrus p. Nakai is among the most ubiquitous trees all over Japan. It has been an important autumn delicacy here for centuries, with some prefectures even having temples dedicated to harvests. Beginning 2020, however, production plummeted to the 200,000-tonne mark from previous highs of up to 531,000 tonnes (1977). The below data from the FAOSTAT tabulates the production decline due to global warming in the early 2020s:
| Year | Production [tonnes] | Acreage [Ha] |
| 2023 | 203,100 | 11,200 |
| 2022 | 223,200 | 11,500 |
| 2021 | 206,200 | 11,700 |
| 2020 | 198,200 | 12,100 |
| 2019 | 238,600 | 12,600 |
Although Japan ranks only 12th in world production at 223,200 tonnes (2022), its pears are unique. Beginning the early 1890s, breeders developed the Nijisseiki and Chojuro cultivars, which literally catapulted production into commercial largesse. In current times, there are many specialty cultivars, from Housoi to Kosui, Nikkori, Niitaka and Shinko.
How old is pear cultivation in Japan?
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM)’s journal, pear seed excavations in Japan go back to the 1st c. A.D. By the 8th century A.D., real cultivation of the fruit had begun there, along with that of vegetables. After its discovery in the late 19th century, Nijisseiki cultivar would dominate 30% of national pear production in the 1940s-80s period.