Tottori is known throughout Japan for its sand dunes, and the obvious question to ask about a dune is what on earth you could possibly grow in one. The answer here turned out to be rakkyo, the Japanese scallion, which does well in loose sand where most other crops will not hold at all.

It is grown around Fukube in Tottori city, and also around Hokuei over in Tohaku district. The bulbs that come out of these fields are whiter than rakkyo grown anywhere else and their fibers are finer, and that is the quality the region has become known for.

They are pickled in sweet vinegar, and what you get out of that is a very particular snap the moment you bite into one. It is a clean, high sound, and it is honestly most of the reason that people eat them at all.

In 2016 both Tottori sakyu rakkyo and Fukube sakyu rakkyo were registered under the national geographical indication protection system. What I keep coming back to is the framing. This is not a story about a place with poor soil making the best of things. Sand is what this crop wants. The dune here is not an obstacle that somebody heroically overcame. It is the reason that the rakkyo comes out of the ground white.