The seasonal word for strawberries is early summer. This refers to the time until the 1960s when the prevailing notion was that strawberries were in season from spring to early summer. It was a time when outdoor cultivation of strawberries was dominant. Subsequently, the use of artificial methods such as greenhouse cultivation became popular, creating a spring-like environment to promote early growth. This enabled strawberries to be harvested from around November to December. This technique was developed to meet the increasing demand for strawberries during the Christmas season and to produce high-quality strawberries during the winter period. As a result, now we can enjoy delicious strawberries for a long period of time, and it can be said that the peak season for strawberries is from winter to early summer. The term “strawberries ” is no longer applicable as a seasonal word for early summer.
Western strawberries are said to have been introduced to Japan in the late Edo period, around the 1830s. Since they were brought by Dutch ships, they were called “Oranda Ichigo” (Dutch strawberries) at that time. As agriculture modernized during the Meiji period, various seeds and seedlings from Europe and the United States were introduced, and commercial cultivation using foreign varieties began around 1900. It is said that there are approximately 30 varieties of strawberries available in the market currently, but the number of registered varieties is about 150, and there are about 30 varieties in the process of registration application and disclosure.

いちごの季語は初夏です。これは、「いちごの旬は春～初夏」という考えが一般的だった1960年代頃までの話で、屋外で栽培されるいちごが主流だった時代の話です。その後、ハウスなどで人工的に春の環境をつくる促成栽培が普及し、いちごは11～12月頃から収穫できるようになりました。これは、いちごの需要が爆発的に増えるクリスマスにあわせて、品質の高いいちごを冬の時期から収穫するために考えられた技術です。その結果、現在では「いちごの旬は冬～初夏」と言えるほど、長い期間美味しいいちごが食べられるようになっています。いちごの季語は初夏ですと言えなくなったわけです。日本に西洋いちごが入って来たのは江戸時代末期の1830年代といわれています。いちごはオランダ船によって持ち込まれたので、当時はオランダイチゴと呼ばれていました。その後、明治時代に農業が近代化されるにつれ、欧米からさまざまな種苗が導入されるようになり、1900年ごろには外国品種を使った営利栽培が始まりました。現在市場に流通しているいちごは約30種あるといわれていますが、品種登録数は約150種、さらに品種登録出願公表中が約30種あるそうです。