World of CitrusNatsudaidai Sour Orange
Hagi City says summer orange was brought to the area around the beginning of the Bunka era (beginning in 1804) and was used as a substitute for yuzu. The page gives no exact arrival date.
Sources: [7]
Hagi Museum states that economic cultivation of summer orange began in Hagi in 1876 through the efforts of former Hagi retainer Obata Takamasa to help former samurai who had lost their stipends. Hagi City separately describes Obata sowing seed and distributing seedlings to former samurai.
Promoted large-scale propagation and commercial cultivation of Natsudaidai in Hagi beginning in 1876.
Accounts differ on the origin of Natsudaidai. Hodgson (1967) reports a seedling found in a Yamaguchi garden toward the end of the 17th century. A 1986 account reproduced by UCR says it was believed to have originated from a seed of fruit that drifted ashore in Yamaguchi around 1870. Nagato City reports a local tradition that fruit drifted ashore at Ohibi during An’ei (1772–1780) and Nishimoto Cho planted the seed. These accounts disagree; the exact origin date and parentage remain unknown.