The World of Apples

Apple varieties, Japan

Sekai Ichi

A very large Aomori apple, often 500 grams or more, named after advertising that called it the biggest in the world

History

Sekai Ichi (世界一) was raised in 1930 at the Aomori Apple Experiment Station1,2, at Kuroishi3, with Delicious as the seed parent and Golden Delicious as the pollen parent1. The station, now the Apple Research Institute of the Aomori Prefectural Industrial Technology Research Center5, lists it among the varieties it has bred6. The apple was made public in 1974: Aomori’s apple council says it was presented to an academic society that year1, and a growers’ cooperative that it was announced under the name Aori 45.

At its launch it was advertised as the biggest variety in the world, and the boast, 世界一 (“the world’s number one”), stuck as its name, although bigger varieties do exist1. Yoshida and Mink, writing in 1974, did not recommend it “because of its extreme size”3. In 1987 Norton and colleagues found its planting stable or declining, and recorded a solid red sport, Red Sekai-ichi4.

The fruit

Sekai Ichi is very large: about 500 grams by the Aomori council’s account, 400 to 450 grams by Hirosaki’s and 500 to 600 grams by Japanese nursery catalogues, and large fruit can exceed a kilogram1,2,4. It is round to conical1,2,3,4, and its skin is dull or purplish red with red stripes1,2. The flesh is yellowish white, fairly firm, fine-textured and very juicy; the flavour is sweet and low in acid1,3, and aromatic2. Hirosaki’s apple park says it tastes better grown without bags, but that it has many faults in cultivation2.

It is picked in October in Aomori1,2. In 1974 it was said to keep into May3.

Where the sources disagree

  • What happened in 1974. Norton and colleagues give 1974 as the year of its registration4; Aomori’s apple council says only that it was presented to an academic society that year1, and a growers’ cooperative that it was announced as Aori 4, Sekai Ichi being a popular name5.
  • Harvest. Aomori’s apple council gives mid-October1, Hirosaki’s apple park late October2, and Norton and colleagues the season of Jonagold4.

Family tree

Parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, as the entries in the atlas record them.

Delicious Golden Delicious Sekai Ichi
Where Sekai Ichi came from. The lines lead to its parents: Delicious (United States) and Golden Delicious (United States).

Sources

  1. Apple varieties (in Japanese), Aomori Prefecture Apple Council (Aomori-ken Ringo Taisaku Kyōgikai). Supports: Sekai Ichi (世界一): (mother) Delicious × (father) Golden Delicious; bred by the Aomori Apple Experiment Station and presented to an academic society in 1974; picked in mid-October; about 500 g, conical, dull red with red stripes; fairly firm, fine-textured flesh, very juicy, low in acid and sweet; called Sekai Ichi because at its launch it was advertised as "the biggest variety in the world", though bigger varieties exist; large fruit over 1 kg.
  2. Apple varieties, Hirosaki Apple Park (in Japanese), Hirosaki City. Supports: Sekai Ichi: Delicious × Golden Delicious, raised in 1930 by the Aomori Apple Experiment Station; picked in late October; 400–450 g; round to conical; purplish red with stripes; good to eat and aromatic, but with many faults in growing; better flavour when grown without bags.
  3. Japanese apple varieties, Y. Yoshida and G. I. Mink, Fruit Varieties and Horticultural Digest 28(1):7–8, American Pomological Society, 1974. Supports: the Aomori Apple Experiment Station "located at Kuroishi City in Aomori Prefecture"; Sekai-ichi: Delicious × Golden Delicious, mid-season, red-striped, very large, conic, yellow-white flesh, storing into May, "Not recommended because of its extreme size".
  4. Current status of several Japanese apple cultivars, R. A. Norton, R. L. Stebbins and Y. Yoshida, Fruit Varieties Journal 41(1):22–28, American Pomological Society, 1987. Supports: Table 1: Sekai-ichi from Aomori, 1974 (the table's dates are years of registration); Delicious × Golden Delicious; ripening with Jonagold; 500–600 g by Japanese nursery catalogues, very large, round-conic, red-striped, firm flesh; planting stable to decreasing; Red Sekai-ichi, a solid red sport.
  5. Other apples (in Japanese), Japan Fruit Road, Japan Fruit Agricultural Cooperative (Nihon Kudamono Nōkyō): a growers' cooperative's marketing page, used only for the Aori 4 name and the station's present name, which no better source found gives. Supports: Sekai Ichi, a mid-season apple from Delicious and Golden [Delicious], bred at what is now the Apple Research Institute of the Aomori Prefectural Industrial Technology Research Center, at Kuroishi; Sekai Ichi a popular name, the variety announced in 1974 as Aori 4; conical, over 500 g, often reaching 1 kg; the Aomori Apple Experiment Station "now" the Apple Research Institute.
  6. Varieties bred by the Apple Research Institute (in Japanese), Aomori Prefectural Industrial Technology Research Center, 2021-12-21. Supports: Sekai Ichi (世界一) listed, with Tsugaru and Mutsu, among the varieties bred by the Apple Research Institute.
  • Photograph of Akane apples.

    Akane

    Japan, 1937

  • Akibae

    A Nakano grower's 1981 cross of Senshu and Tsugaru; its dark fruit was ignored in Tokyo but welcomed in Kyushu

    Japan, 1981

  • Photograph of Amanishiki apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Amanishiki

    Japan, 1936

  • Photograph of Aori apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, one cut across.

    Aori

    Japan, by 1977

  • Photograph of Fuji apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, one cut across.

    Fuji

    Bred at Fujisaki, Aomori, from a 1939 cross; by a 2025 estimate it makes up 70 per cent of China's apples

    Japan, 1939

  • Photograph of Fukunishiki apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, one cut across.

    Fukunishiki

    Japan, 1933

  • Photograph of Fukutami apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, one cut across.

    Fukutami

    Japan, 1933

  • Photograph of Golden Melon apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, one cut across.

    Golden Melon

    Japan, 1931

All 37 varieties from Japan