Note 51 — Chapter XL
Reading edition
Kämpfer says that the European apple-tree is unknown in Japan, and that they have only one kind of pears, such as we call winter pears. The fruit grows to a great size, but must be cooked to be eaten. Cherry-trees are cultivated only for the flowers, as apricots and plums often are, the blossoms being brought by art to be as big as roses. Golownin, however, ate apples in northern Japan, though of an inferior quality.