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Kōchi's yuzu
Kōchi prefecture produces about half of Japan's yuzu, much of it from mountain villages along rivers such as the 仁淀川 and the 物部川. The fruit is picked from late fall into December, before hard frost. Clean, unmarked fruit goes to market through the agricultural cooperative (農協, JA); scratched fruit is pressed for ゆず酢, the juice used as a seasoning, and the peel goes into jams, sweets and seasonings. As farmers age, many yuzu groves go untended, and some towns and cooperatives now organize volunteers, students or newcomers to help with the harvest and to learn pruning. On the winter solstice (冬至), many Japanese households float yuzu in the bath — ゆず湯 — a custom said to ward off colds. The grammar of this lesson is the grammar of urgency and reason: んばかりに, ことだし, ほかない, ないうちに and ばこそ.