Japan's must-haves in March: what's in season?

March 1, 2025

Recently, I've been trying to learn more about the various 季節きせつ (kisetsu // seasons) in Japan and when the 旬しゅん (shun / season [for fruit, etc.]) is for various foods. Because in my experience…

Japan loves things related to seasons. There are tons of seasonal festivals and events here. The general stock and vibes of supermarkets and stores can change significantly with the seasons, too.

Now that March has come around, I thought it'd be fun to share the stuff I've been learning with everyone. Some of my favorite things are currently in 旬しゅん, so if you're in Japan while reading this, I highly recommend you hunt them down!

I also wanted to bring up an event or two that I'd recommend keeping an eye out for as well ^^

But to start…

３月さんがつの旬しゅんのもの (sangatsu no shun no mono // things in season in March)

…is what I googled to find a lot of this stuff. Might be good to remember for whenever you wanna check out what's in season in future months. Just gotta replace that ３月さんがつ with whatever month it is~

First, we have to start off with my #1 favorite fruit: oranges. But not just any oranges. Specifically…

不知火しらぬい (shiranui // shiranui)

Growing up in the US, I never thought about the different species of oranges, really.

We had navel oranges which were the "norm", so to speak, and then every now and then I'd see a blood orange in the supermarket. I guess those are grown far away or I'm just unlucky because most of the blood oranges I've had haven't been terribly… fresh.

Anyway, once I came to Japan, I discovered 不知火しらぬい and デコポン (dekopon).

These are the best oranges I've ever had, and I can't get enough of them.

They're in season from around January to April/May, so be sure to try them! Also, if you've played Animal Crossing on the 3DS, they'll probably look familiar to you. The おいしいオレンジ (oishii orenji // "delicious oranges" in the game) are based on these:

Picture from ウェザーニュース.

I always wondered why Animal Crossing showed them with that little extra bump-like thing at the top, and it made sense when I first saw this type of orange. I also wholeheartedly understand why they were called おいしいオレンジ compared to just the normal オレンジ 😋

Anyway, 不知火しらぬい is the variety/species of this orange, and デコポン is a trademark that can be used when these oranges meet a set 糖度とうど (toudo // sugar content) and 酸度さんど (sando// acidity).

デコポン, probably unsurprisingly, tend to be more expensive than their 不知火 counterparts, but both are delicious and worth trying whenever you have the chance ^^

By the way, 不知火しらぬい is also the name of a 妖怪ようかい (youkai // Yokai; Japanese ghost/demon) from 九州 (kyuushuu // Kyushu).

不知火しらぬい appears as a long line of mysterious lights on the surface of the two seas near Kumamoto, Saga, and Nagasaki during a new Moon. This line is said to even reach up to 4 to 8 kilometers.

Spooky 👀

Now, we know it's not a 妖怪ようかい though. This phenomenon was discovered to be a 蜃気楼しんきろう (shinkirou // mirage) in the 大正時代たいしょうじだい (taishou jidai // Taisho era, 1912-1926).

What were we talking about again?

Oh, right, 旬しゅんのもの (shun no mono // things in season).

きんかん (kinkan // kumquats)

きんかん are in 旬しゅん from around late January to March. I've never had one until I moved here, and they're… not what I expected. I had to look up how to eat it, actually. Turns out…

Textbook Formal

きんかんは、皮かわごと食たべる果物くだものです。

Kumquats are a fruit you eat skin and all.

So I went ahead and did that. It was good, but it took some getting used to. I like them now, though ^^

Apparently, you can eat the seeds as well, but they're ever so slightly 有毒 (yuudoku // poisonous), so… don't eat a bunch at once, I guess. I'm not a fan of the texture of the seeds so I take them out, myself.

A website I saw said to eat no more than about 5 きんかん a day since there's a (not toxic, this time) compound in them called テレピン (terepin // turpentine), which can make your lips/mouth temporarily numb.

Usually, I start to feel this around my 3rd きんかん, but I've started to grow kind of fond of that feeling. Am I weird…?

梅うめ (ume // plum)

This is 季節きせつ instead of 旬しゅん, but…

February (not March) is when the plum blossoms start blooming, but they're still out here in Fukuoka as of writing this. Odds are you can see them near full bloom somewhere near you if you go now!

In Fukuoka, 舞鶴公園まいづるこうえん (maizuru kouen // Maizuru Park) is a well-known spot for viewing these. Here's a pic I took last week:

Speaking of stuff in Fukuoka…

キウイ (kiui // kiwis)

Most of the kiwis you can buy in Japan seem to be from New Zealand, but apparently, Fukuoka grows kiwis as well. And they're in season now.

Keep an eye out for 福岡県産ふくおかけんさん (fukuokaken san // grown in Fukuoka Prefecture) on the next package of kiwis you buy, and be sure to let us know how they were in the community!

いちご (strawberries)

いちご are in season from March to around mid-April. Be sure to pick some up or do いちご狩がり (ichigogari // strawberry picking) before the season is over! The いちご in Japan tend to be much sweeter than their overseas counterparts, so be sure to try them.

You could also eat them as many do here and up that sweetness even more by putting コンデンスミルク (kondensu miruku // condensed milk) on them 👀

ひなまつり (hinamatsuri // Hinamatsuri; Girls' Day)

Another 季節きせつ thing is ひなまつり! It's a holiday to wish for the healthy growth of young girls that takes place on the 3rd of March.

There might not be too much to do for this one if there are no young girls in the family, but you'll certainly see decorations around if you look for them. We have a NativShark lesson on it as well:

ひな祭り: Girls' Day

That lesson contains somewhat specific language, but it's good to know around this time of year so you can follow along when people talk about it.

If you find the above to be difficult at the moment, no worries.

Just gotta keep showing up ↓

If you haven't started your learning journey yet, you'll need your account first! You can make one for free here:

Happy studies!

Hope you enjoyed this one. There are so many things that are now in 旬, and I simply couldn't fit them all in this newsletter.

I'd love to hear about your favorite things happening this month/things in season in the community! There's a lot to talk about ^^

ひなまつり

Turns out ひなまつり, while being a holiday, does not result in a day off of school or work:

Alas ^^

Here's the full lesson on all the things done during this holiday! It explains why you might see so many dolls around this time of year and a few foods that are traditional to eat:

ひな祭り: Girls' Day

From Milestone 36 (Phase Three, Unit 187).

NativShark goodie bag

NativShark Units

2 new Units have been added to Phase Three!

We'll get back to 4 Units as soon as we can, thank you for your patience!

As always, these Units are filled with vocab in unique contexts, any relevant new kanji, and natural conversations called Dialogues at the end, all of which are designed to get you functional in Japanese as efficiently as possible.

These Units also feature the following lessons:

Phase Three, Unit 374

Saying "however" or "even if" with ど

Phase Three, Unit 375

Saying "there's nothing comparable" with Nをおいて

 歌舞伎揚: Sweet and salty shōyu-flavored rice crackers

Thanks for reading all the way to the end ^^

Good luck and happy studies,
Ty & the NativShark team