Giant Butterbur Harvest Peaks in Hokkaido;Edible Plant Grows Taller Than an Adult

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:36 JST, June 14, 2025

ASHORO, Hokkaido — Harvesting Rawanbuki giant Japanese butterbur is now at its peak in Ashoro, Hokkaido.

With stalks reaching heights that dwarf a full-grown adult, Rawanbuki is the specialty of the town. According to JA Ashoro, a local agricultural co-op, Rawanbuki is cultivated by a production group of 11 farms and others in the town, and is shipped to JA’s mountain vegetable factory. The farmers expect to ship 265 tons of butterbur this year, with most processed into boiled products and some sold at the farmer’s market, among other places.

On Friday, 10 farmers used sickles to cut Rawanbuki at the root to harvest the plants at the field of Kenji Kasai, 40, the chief of the group in Ashoro’s Inaushi district. Kasai said that although the growth of the plants has been delayed due to low temperatures in early spring, some have grown up to about 2.3 meters in height.

The harvest will continue until around the end of the month. “I hope young people will try eating it, too, such as by cooking meat-stuffed Rawanbuki stalks,” Kasai said.