''Yukimuro Apple'', which becomes sweeter in the snow, is a rare spring taste.

What comes to mind when you hear the taste of spring? In fact, apples are one of the spring flavors in Aomori.

Aomori Prefecture accounts for approximately 60% of the country's apple production. Apples harvested in the fall are stored throughout the year through refrigerated storage or CA storage. CA storage (Controlled Atmosphere Storage) is a technology that controls oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, temperature, and humidity to suppress the respiration of apples and store them while maintaining freshness.

Although apples can be eaten all year round, ''yukimuro apples'' are only available in early spring. ''Yukimuro apples'' are buried in snow to ripen during the winter, and are characterized by their freshness and concentrated sweetness, as if they had just been picked. A snow room is a traditional preservation method that maintains a constant temperature of 0°C and humidity of over 90%, and was used to preserve vegetables in the days before refrigerators. It is said that not only does it maintain freshness, but vegetables themselves store sugar to prevent them from freezing, increasing their sweetness.

At "Roadside Station Namioka Apple Hill" in Namioka, Aomori City, apples grown in Namioka are stored in a snow room in early January every year. After being aged for about two months, they are dug out of the snow and sold in early March. The ''Yukimuro apples'', which have been carefully stored in a snow room, are so popular that there is a line of people waiting to buy them every year. Check out this year's release dates and enjoy the rare taste of spring.