Summer orange trees can be seen all around Hagi, and the scene of yellow summer oranges visible from behind white plaster walls and earthen walls is a cherished sight unique to Hagi.

Summer oranges were first cultivated in Hagi after the Meiji Restoration. The cultivation of summer oranges was originally encouraged as a means of assisting the samurai who had lost their jobs and fell into poverty due to the disappearance of the samurai system. In Hagi at that time, spacious samurai residences that were no longer inhabited still remained here and there. Those spacious samurai estates were used for growing summer orange trees, marking the start of large-scale summer orange cultivation. It was the first such endeavor of its kind in Japan.

Although people were skeptical when cultivation first began, the number of people growing them increased year by year, and by 1886, the town of Hagi was almost filled with summer orange trees. Revenue from the summer orange fruit and seedlings began to outpace Hagi’s public finances.

Scenes with earthen walls and summer oranges, which took root in the town of Hagi, can be seen at many samurai estates and other areas within the castle town. Each year from early to mid-May, Hagi is taken over by the sight of dainty white blossoms as well as their sweet fragrance.