[Purely Original] Ikeda's Naturally Grown Mandarin Orange Juice 1L

<100% pure juice made from naturally grown Unshu mandarins, skin and all>

Sorry for the long wait!!
Ikeda's naturally grown mandarin juice, which is very popular every year, is now in stock.

Michiaki Ikeda from Gyokuto Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, is extremely popular nationwide.
Purely's original naturally grown mandarin juice, made using 100% of Ikeda's naturally grown mandarins, is back again this year.
Naturally grown mandarins without fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides are luxuriously squeezed whole from the skin. No additives such as sugar, flavorings, preservatives or colorings are used. Naturally grown mandarins that have grown slowly with the power of soil, sun and water have a rich sweetness that makes you feel as if you are drinking the whole mandarin orange. And yet it has a refreshing, moderate acidity that is so delicious that you won't be able to stop drinking it once you start.

This naturally grown mandarin orange juice is perfect for home use or as a gift.

Ikeda's naturally grown mandarin oranges are hugely popular nationwide.

Michiaki Ikeda is engaged in natural farming in Gyokuto Town, Kumamoto Prefecture.
Mr. Ikeda gradually converted his tangerine farm, which has been passed down for generations, to natural cultivation since 2009. Then, in 2015, he converted the entire farm to natural cultivation, and this feat is well-known nationwide.

Fruit trees usually use more pesticides and fertilizers than vegetables. It is said that mandarin oranges are sprayed more than 40 times before harvest. Mr. Ikeda has continued to grow his oranges naturally without fertilizer or pesticides, overcoming repeated trials of pests and diseases, because he wants to "produce delicious mandarin oranges that even children can eat safely."

Michiaki Ikeda is a pioneer of naturally grown Unshu mandarins.
They also host study sessions on natural fruit cultivation and are actively involved in promoting the practice.

When he first started natural farming without using any herbicides or pesticides, he says he was greatly troubled by damage caused by weeds and insects.

As he gradually switched from his long-standing conventional cultivation, a large number of scale insects appeared on Ikeda's mandarin orange trees. As the name suggests, scale insects are small insects shaped like shells that attach themselves to the branches of fruit trees and suck the nutrients out of the tree. Their excrement is black, which turns the mandarin orange branches, leaves, and fruit completely black, making them unsellable.

Mr. Ikeda now ships out beautiful, naturally grown mandarins, but he says that there was a time when he was forced to discard many mandarins due to damage caused by scale insects.

Leaves damaged by scale insects turn black and the plant becomes weak.

"The tangerine tree was completely covered in scale insects and became weaker with each passing day. There were times when I thought it might not be possible to continue. But I continued to look after it every day, and shower it with love and prayer."After doing so, one day the scale insects turned white, and "they all died naturally at once."

"Then the tree gradually recovered and became healthy again. Now there is almost no damage from the scale insects. It was a truly mysterious experience, and I felt the power of nature."

What does a massive outbreak of scale insects mean?
Ikeda says he now thinks that "the scale insects came to suck out and purify the excess fertilizer and pesticides that have been used for many years. There is nothing wasted in nature. I think everything has a purpose and plays some kind of role."

Mr. Ikeda and the naturally grown Kiyomi orange trees. He treats them with love every day.

A naturally grown Unshu mandarin tree. It is now in very good condition with little damage from insects.

Naturally grown mandarin oranges, grown with care, attention, and love

In addition to scale insects, there is another insect called a praying mantis that burrows deep into the trunks of fruit trees and causes the trees to wither. To deal with this, they have been walking around the orchard almost every day, steadily removing any larvae they find. They have also struggled with weeds such as jack o' peas that wrap around the trees and weaken them.

A tangerine tree whose insides have been eaten away by praying mantises.

Damaged trees have their holes covered and are raised to prevent the tree from weakening. In normal mandarin orange cultivation, pests are eliminated with pesticides, weeds are killed with herbicides, and chemical fertilizers are used generously to make the mandarin oranges grow.

However, in order to grow his tangerine trees naturally without pesticides or fertilizers, Ikeda cuts the grass every day or uses iron pipes to prevent weeds from growing vigorously, and painstakingly removes insects by hand.

"January to March is the pruning season, and April to July is when I live with the grass," he said with a laugh. "Whenever I have free time, I come to the tangerine orchard, where I give the plants my care, attention, and love.

However, I've decided that when I'm not working, I won't do it, and I try to balance things by going fishing or painting." Along with his deep affection for his mandarin orange trees, I could also sense Ikeda's own philosophy of living a happy life, which is to "play when it's time to play."

He goes around the orchard every day with an iron pipe and cuts down weeds. He says that cutting down weeds is more effective at suppressing weeds than mowing, based on his experience.

In the naturally grown orchards, there are mechanisms for setting up hives for Japanese honeybees. Perhaps in the future we will be able to eat honey from naturally grown mandarin oranges.