Ehime

Ehime is located in the northwestern part of the Shikoku region, and the climate differs greatly between the northern part facing the Seto Inland Sea and the southern part facing the Uwa Sea. The northern coast, including Matsuyama City, belongs to the Seto Inland Sea climate, with low annual precipitation and long hours of sunlight. This high rate of clear weather is suitable for Mandarin Orange cultivation, and terraced fields with stone walls stretch toward the sea on the slopes from the Matsuyama Plain to Iyo City and Yawatahama City. The stone walls of the terraced fields store heat during the day and release it at night, helping to increase the sugar content of the fruit. The southern area around Uwajima City and Seiyo City is favored by the calm inner bay environment of the Uwa Sea, and the aquaculture of Sea Bream and yellowtail is active. The Uwa Sea forms a ria coastline with complex inlets, and the moderately fast tidal currents are evaluated as firming up the flesh of the fish. Kumakogen Town in the mid-mountainous area is a highland region with an elevation of about 1000m, where open-field vegetables are cultivated taking advantage of the cool climate even in summer. For Ehime as a whole, the topographical diversity of the sea, plains, and mountains supports a variety of products in both agriculture and fisheries.

Source: MAFF Crop Statistics (Reiwa 5 / 2023), JMA historical weather data

The structural strength of Ehime's agriculture and fisheries lies in its topographical multilayering. In the terraced fields on the Seto Inland Sea side, long hours of sunlight and the heat storage effect of the stone walls increase the sugar content of the citrus, while in the ria inner bays on the Uwa Sea side, the tidal currents condition the flesh quality of the fish. It is a rare structure nationally for citrus agriculture and seafood aquaculture to coexist at a high level within the same prefecture. Furthermore, the new citrus variety groups developed independently by Ehime, such as Beni Madonna, Kanpei, and Natsumi (citrus), are the result of years of selection and improvement by agricultural experiment stations and farmers, and the strategy of exclusive shipment from within the prefecture increases their scarcity value. The brand design capability as a production area, which enabled entry into the gift market rather than just shipping from the production area, can be said to be a modern characteristic of Ehime's agriculture.