Heavy snow threatens 2025 Aomori apple harvest in Japan, with branches, even trunks broken

Record snowfall in January 2025 caused apple tree branches to break and trunks to snap, says farmer in Aomori. US$65 million losses feared

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Pedestrians walk past high drifts of snow along a street in the northern Japanese city of Aomori on January 9, 2025. The area’s apple trees have been damaged by the weight of the snow. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:48pm, 13 Feb 2025

Record snowfall in January has severely damaged apple orchards in Aomori, northeast Japan, the country’s largest apple-producing region, with authorities fearing losses could exceed 10 billion yen (US$64.8 million).

Among many areas that saw above-average snowfall in January, the city of Hirosaki reported a record 126cm (49.6-inch) accumulation, according to a local observatory.

The weight of snow has badly damaged apple trees grown in the city and 10 other municipalities. With more snow expected this month, concerns have been raised about the impact on this year’s autumn harvest in the prefecture, which produces about 60 per cent of Japan’s apples.

Yoshimoto Kudo, 85, who cultivates around 150 trees in his 4,000 square metre (1 acre) orchard, said many branches were broken, and the trunks of some trees 50 to 60 years old even snapped.

People brush snow off tree branches to prevent them from breaking in the central Japanese city of Toyama in February 2025. Photo: Kyodo

Japan’s Aomori prefecture is a major producer of apples. Photo: Getty Images

Kudo has been working to reduce damage by spreading snow-melting agents and reinforcing branches, but uncleared farm roads have left three of his five orchards inaccessible.