I went to the post office today and was third in line. This is very unusual on our island of just 687 people. I've never seen more than two people in the post office at any time. Then it hit me: It's Daikon December. December is when the daikon radishes are harvested.
Indeed, the old lady in front of me had three large boxes of radishes she was posting to relatives on the mainland. Imagine that, posting radishes to those who had abandoned their country home towns, the radish capitals of the prefecture, and then getting this special daikon treatment.
No wonder the city folk don't come home to the countryside; we mail the countryside to them.