Yamanashi Peach varieties compared: Hikawa Hakuho, and Yume Touka, Kanoiwa Hakuho and Yume Mizuki under Don Don Donki Furu Furu Label (early season premium Japanese peaches)

This July, I tried a few different types of Japanese peaches to get a sense of the variation in taste, quality and price points. I also expanded my foray into Don Don Donki's Furu Furu premium fruit label by trying two types of Yamanashi peaches sold under it, and this time I tried to identify the exact variety by looking up all the specifications of the fruit. (I previously tried their Furu Furu Kumamoto Strawberries which were a blast.)

Hikawa Hakuho Yamanashi Peace (日川白鳳)

But first, let's start with the one that I tried from Kyoho-ya. This is the one in the first photo above. The entire batch was getting overripe, so the price was cut to around S$26 for two, which is apparently a steal because they normally cost around S$40-50 for two fruits. And for that reason, I think they did not explicitly label it as Hikawa Hakuho on the box, although it might have been written on the in-store banner which I failed to photograph.

The telltale signs that it is Hikawa Hakuho are that: 

1. It is a super early season peach. This batch was already beginning to get overripe when I bought it on 1 July 2026. 
2. It had a perfectly symmetrical two-cheek bun shape (or some people think of it as a behind haha), which Hikawa Hakuho is well known for. See the stunning photos below of the perfect shape.
3. It turned a dark burgundy colour when just turning overripe. The ones I bought did not get that dark, but I saw some others from the same batch of the shelf which were a deep red blush to burgundy - the types that the sales staff said should be eaten that same night. The other early harvest varieties from Yamanashi did not seem to have the same burgundy colour when extremely ripe.
4. These peaches I bought matched the size of the typical Hikawa Hakuho, which is around 8cm in diameter. The other early season peaches tended to average a bit smaller, such as the Sakuhime and Hanayome at 6-7.5cm.
5. It matched the typical texture of being melting and juicy, not the firmer jelly-like texture. 
6. It seems to match the brix level of around 12-14, based on my comparison with the Donki Furu Furu peaches which seemed to be at a higher brix level, with one of them boasting 18.5. That said, brix 12-14 is already considered very very sweet by most standards, so it was definitely sweet enough already.
7. It did match the description of being low in acidity, especially apparent in contrast to the Donki Furu Furu peaches which I later tried.

Here are some pictures from different angles, so you can see how the colouration is different across the peach, and how symmetrically perfect the two cheeks were.

In terms of the taste profile, it wasn't the sweetest, but it was hands-down my favourite. This is because it doesn't rely on pure sweetness to delight you, but rather it has a perfect balance of sweetness, just a slight a hint of tartness (which makes sense as it is known for low acidity), but most amazingly, the lushest exotic floral fragrance I ever noticed in a peach.

What hit my mouth first was a nice balance of sweetness, and a little bit of tartness that you might expect of peaches. It was excellent, but at first seemed average of Japanese peaches.

But once that initial burst of sweetness subsided a bit, the amazing floral fragrance was noticeable in the top notes. It was so dainty and intricate that I only noticed it properly when I moved the air around in the back of my palate by taking in small sniffs. It was like the most elaborate of peach scents used in the most fragrant peach candies or body washes, except that it was completely natural, and not so intense as to feel manufactured. I could identify the notes of rose, top notes of jasmine (without the indoles) and even lily. It was by far the most intricately fragrant of peaches I've ever had.

The texture was very smooth and soft, like a melty texture, exactly as described of Hikawa Hakuho. And it was so juicy that it would run down my chin if I wasn't careful.

It wasn't as sweet as the other peaches, but I think for such fragrant varieties, having them too sweet would drown out the natural lush floral fragrances, which are the main star.

If you want to try these, do note that Hikawa Hakuhou are super early season harvests, so you need to start hunting for them by the last week of June, and by July 1, they begin to get overripe. This could get even earlier in subsequent years if global warming brings forward the harvests.

Don Don Donki Furu Furu Peaches 

To try different types of peaches for a better spread, I bought the level 5 miracle sweet Furu Furu peach from Donki which are around brix 18, as well as a normal Large peaches, which should be below brix 13, since that is the lower bound of the Level 4 Super Sweet peaches. The normal ones should range between 11-13.

Level 5 Miracle Sweet Furu Furu Peach with Brix 18.5 (S$23 per punnet of 2)
(matches Yume Touka Peach 夢桃花)

I actually tried the normal peach first, but since I'm comparing to the Hikawa Hakuho, I thought to review the Level 5 Miracle Sweet Brix 18.5 peach first. 

After researching possibilities, I'm convinced that this is most probably the Yume Touka Peach that is grown in a greenhouse, which would normally sell for S$11-25, for the following reasons:

1. No natural peaches exist with the specifications of these peaches I bought, which were around 9-10cm in diameter, early harvest (packed on 6 July and almost overripe by 8 July 2026) and an 18.5 Brix level. 18.5 by the way is crazy high, as 13 or even 15-17 is already considered extremely high for peaches grown naturally. But 18.5 is possible because it is grown in a greenhouse where they restrict water and crank up the greenhouse heat to force the sugar levels up. It is this process that also causes the distinct blood-like veins giving the peach I ate a look of white flesh with a crimson vein blush (see the pictures below). Early season peaches are also not very likely as they tend to be smaller, so this narrows it down to the mid-to-late summer peaches whose fruiting timelines were forcefully brought forward into the early season window.
2. The peach I ate had a jelly-like consistency, which was markedly different from the melting consistency of the Hikawa Hakuhou (which I tried and reviewed above) and also from the normal sweetness Furu Furu peach. Among the other greenhouse-grown varieties, the Yume Touka is the only one that fits the bill and is the only probable variety for such a large peach at such extreme sugar levels. When the peach has a melting texture, it makes it extremely difficult to grow to such size and sugar levels, and it would be very prone to bruising, where as the ones I had were quite perfect and unbruised as you can see. The other possibilities with melting texture that I eliminated were Asama Hakuto, Yume Mizuki and Misaka Daitoryo. 

This Yume Touka peach is actually related to the Hakuho (Hakuhou) peaches (from a common ancestor as the Hikawa Hakuho above) and is the firm-fleshed alternative to the Hikawa Hakuho. It also has a very pretty blush on the outside, but perhaps because of its gigantic size, is not as cutely symmetrical as the Hikawa.

When you cut it, there is the characteristic look of greenhouse-grown white peaches of such large size and extreme sweetness, which is a spidervein crimson blood-red threads coursing through white flesh. Together with the greenish-yellow colouration at the paler parts of the fruit, it makes for a very pretty and contrasting palette of colours. I tried to take a close-up in the last photo above but some of the red streaks didn't show up as clearly. There were a lot more smaller and intricate red streaks and it was very pretty.

Above is a photo showing the difference in colour from the normal sweetness Furu Furu peach (left) and the Yume Touka Brix 18.5 Miracle Sweet peach (right).

Finally, in terms of the taste, it was definitely sweeter than the Hikawa Hakuho, and there were refreshing honey-like notes to balance out the sweetness. (I wasn't sure if it was sweeter than the Yume Mizuki I review below though.)

But there was very little of that intricate floral fragrance of the Hikawa Hakuho, with no obvious notes of lily or top notes of jasmine. Perhaps a hint of rose notes. Perhaps the sweetness and tartness drowned out any delicate floral fragrance. But the honey notes came through.

It was also curious in that different mouthfuls seem to have a slightly different experience. I later found out that this is common of peaches, which tend to be sweeter near the bottom of the fruit, at the red parts and furthest from the seed. But on average, it was richer in flavour than the standard sweetness Furu Furu peaches including the Yume Mizuki one (in all aspects such as sweetness and fruity honey notes). But for some mouthfuls, it felt like the standard Furu Furu peach was actually better. The rosier parts of the Yume Touka were more flavourful than the normal Furu Furu Yume Mizuki peach, but the paler parts could have made it feel like the Yume Mizuki peach had more flavour. But overall, the Yume Touka Level 5 Miracle Sweet peach tasted better on average across all the slices. And it beats the Kanoiwa hands down.

This Miracle Sweet Yume Touka was also a very juicy peach like the Hikawa Hakuho, such that the plate was full of juice. I actually tilted the plate to drink every last drop.

So overall, it was a very delightfully sweet and refreshing peach, with a nice jelly-like texture, but somewhat less of that delicate and intricate floral fragrance. For that matter, I actually preferred the Hikawa Hakuhou, because I find the actual fruity and floral flavour to be more interesting than just tonnes of sugar.

Normal Furu Furu Peaches (large size, standard sweetness, S$17 per punnet of 2)

I think for this category, they might have mixed and matched different varieties of peaches, because the two peaches from the same punnet looked and tasted so different, although like the Miracle Sweet one, all were labelled as coming from Yamanashi.

First Normal Sweetness Furu Furu Peach 

(matches Kanoiwa Hakuho peach variety 加納岩白鳳)

The first one I cut had a deep burgundy colour skin, and it turned even darker after wetting it to wash it like in the photo below.

When I cut it, it had a characteristic white and transluscent flesh colour with a patch of rose blush, very similar to a mangosteen feel. There were also some bruises (the dark red patches near the skin) so I thought it was a bit overripe. These are all completely different from the second peach's skin and flesh appearance which I show in the photos further below.

The taste was also very different. This one felt sweeter than even the Hikawa Hakuho, although not as sweet as the second normal sweetness Furu Furu peach below or the Miracle Sweet Furu Furu peach above. 

What was interesting was that it balances sweetness and tartness, so was very refreshing, but in exchange for that, it missed out on the intricate fragrance found in all the other peach varieties in this post. There was virtually no fragrance or notable top notes. Perhaps just very vague notes of plum or prune, or the generic stone fruit fragrance.

The peach that matches all these criteria seems to be the Kanoiwa Hakuho (加納岩白鳳), which is sold in Singapore for around S$17 per fruit in a box of 6 at premium Japanese fruit retailers. Why I think it matches the Kanoiwa Hakuho:

1. The distinct mangosteen-like transluscent flesh with rose blush look of this peaceh I tried is unmistakable. I googled up images of the Kanoiwa Hakuho and it looked very similar.
2. The exterior colour of dark red or burgundy skin is similar.
3. The size of 9-10cm diameter and Brix level of 11-13 match.
4. The flavour profile balancing crisp tartness with sweetness for this peach is similar to what is described of the Kanoiwa.
5. The ripening timeline also matches. You can see that it was slightly overripe for this one, or at least I assume so based on the bruising, and I cut it on the same day I bought it on 8 July. The Kanoiwa ripens from late June through early July, which explains why it is riper than the other variety below.
6. The texture was very melty, especially in the overripe state, exactly what is described of the Kanoiwa.
7. The Kanoiwa fragrance is notably mild, like this peach I ate. Apparently, the Kanoiwa is a variant of the Asama Hakuto (浅間白桃) which has a very mild and delicate fragrance in contrast with the very fragrant later-season Hakuho variants.

Second Normal Sweetness Furu Furu Peach 

(matches Yume Mizuki peach variety 夢みずき)

The second peach I tried looked quite different in colour both inside and outside. It was not overripe at all, unlike the probably Kanoiwa Hakuho above. See the photo below - it is mostly a base of creamy yellow with a nice rosy blush.

The flesh was distinctly pale and whitish, slightly yellowish almost exactly like an apple hue. (It was the variety on the left side in the comparison photo below with the Yume Touka.) 

The taste for this second peach was much more fragrant than the first Kanoiwa Hakuho peach. It had a some grape-like notes and also some tartness that was more prominent near the seed, although this is apparently true of many early-season varieties. 

I preferred this second paler peach much more compared to the first Kanoiwa Hakuho Furu Furu peach because of the nuanced notes in the flavour, which was comparable to the Yume Touka in honey notes.

In terms of the overall sweetness, honestly, it was difficult to tell whether the Level 5 Miracle Sweet Yume Touka was sweeter or this one was. I kept going back and forth trying to see which one was sweeter. In the end, I tried drinking the juice from the plate and I believe the normal Furu Furu Yume Mizuki was sweeter, strangely. But the Miracle Sweet one had more flavour on average. Still, I think the difference between this second Furu Furu normal Level 3 peach and the Miracle Sweet Level 5 one doesn't justify the extra price paid for the Miracle Sweet one. BUT the price difference is very justified for the difference between the Kanoiwa Level 3 one and the Yume Touka Level 5 one. So it was very strange.

Upon searching through various varieties, Yume Mizuki peach variety (夢みずき) came up as the top candidate, matching all these criteria for the second peach:

1. This peach ripened around 10 July: Yume Mizuki is known to ripen in the first or second week of July.
2. This peach had a diameter of around 9am, and Yume Shizuku is known for its large size profile around 9-10cm in diameter.
3. As you can see in the photos, this peach was uniformly pale like an apple, with no redness near the seed, despite the skin being crimson in colour. This also fits Yume Mizuki.
4. The Brix levels also match up at around 11 to 13.
5. The exact flavour profile I experienced is what Yumu Mizuki is known for: syrupy, fragrant notes of honey and natural tartness near the seed.
6. The texture of this peach and the Yume Mizuki is melty.
7. Like this variety, Yume Mizuki is also sold in Singapore. The other alternative was Yume Shizuku, which is super rare and hardly sold in Singapore, so I excluded it. I doubt the bulk importer for Donki could have procured very many of those for Singapore at a low price.

If this is indeed the Yume Mizuki, then it is a real steal, because I got the normal Furu Furu peaches for around S$17 per punnet or $8.50 each, but these normally sell for a minimum of $25+ per fruit in a box of 6. I was wondering how it was possible, but it seems like the Furu Furu labels are able to offer such low prices via their bulk procurement. (I explain more below.)

Don Don Donki Furu Furu Peach Store Photos

Finally, here are the store photos. The sign of the Yamanashi origin is on the right side (click to enlarge photo). Also, I took a picture of the Level 4 Super Sweet punnet for reference, but didn't buy it in the end as I wanted to see the contrast between the top end of Level 5 and the standard sweetness. 

Ranking & Value

Overall, my favourite was still the Hikawa Hakuho because of the super intricate floral fragrance. The cute symmetrical shape also featured into my appreciation for the fruit, making for pretty pictures and jokes with my housemates.

The Yume Touka was a very close second because of its higher sweetness and firmer jelly-like texture. It had decent fragrance but not as intricate or exotic as the Hikawa Hakuho.

The Yume Mizuki followed closely after the Yume Touka, featuring a nice tartness to balance out the sweetness, but overall was slightly less flavourful than the Yume Touka.

The one I rank last would be the Kanoiwa, which was sweet and balanced with good tartness, but had virtually no fragrance. 

Price-wise, it is interesting to note that the Hikawa Hakuho, Yume Touka and Yume Mizuki all have similar prices at full price of around S25 per fruit at specialty Japanese fruit retail stores. (I am assuming the Yume Mizuki I tried would be in the higher end of its price range due to the ultra-high Brix level of 18.5.) So it checks out in that I find them all roughly around the same quality, and my ranking of them all boils down to personal preference. 

But I got them at different discounts under the Furu Furu label with the Hikawa Hakuho costing the most (S$13 each), followed by Yume Touka (S$11.50 each) and Yume Mizuki (S$8.50). 

The lowest ranked of the lot by a significant margin, was accordingly much cheaper at specialty stores at around S$17 each, but I ended up getting it at the same price as the Yume Mizuki under the Don Don Donki Furu Furu label.

Tips & Lessons for Purchasing Japanese Peaches

The most important thing I learned was that Don Don Donki Furu Furu fruits are great value, at any sweetness level. They are comparable to expensive varieties sold at specialty Japanese fruits shops, but seem to have their prices slashed due to the bulk procurement arrangement.

For normal sweetness Furu Furu peaches at least, even within the same punnet, there could be two different types of peach. Both looked and tasted so different and had different ripening timelines, so I'm convinced that they are different varieties, and they just get sorted locally in stores into the same punnet based on measured Brix level with the Brix gun. So don't be surprised if you get two different but equally interesting experiences, and be prepared to observe differences. (For the Miracle Sweet Furu Furu peaches, both seemed similar, however. I suppose there aren't a lot of fruits that reach the 18 Brix level to begin with, so perhaps they have fewer varieties to pick from.)

So overall, I would recommend the Furu Furu series over discounted specialty fruit store offerings if you want to save a bit of money for a premium quality present. Get the Miracle Sweet Level 5 variety if you want a higher end of the premium range and want a guaranteed premium experience. But if you want to try your luck with getting even better value, get the standard sweetness level punnet as you might just get a premium variety inside of a similar standard to the Miracle Sweet variety. The normal box is a hit or miss though. 

For me, if I was already going to spend so much on a peach, I would rather stick to guaranteed quality rather than have a hit or miss experience with a $15-17 punnet. The Miracle Sweet one is just $8 more without the gamble, so I would just get it, especially if it is to celebrate a special occasion or be a gift.

Disclaimer

I cannot be 100% sure that I correctly matched all these peach varieties, but based on what I found and the multiple matching points, it makes logical sense that the match is either a very high certainty or else it is a very close variety of peach that for all intents and purposes would be quite indistinguishable except to experts or peach hobbyists, which I do not claim to be.

Furthermore, what I learned about the Don Don Donki Furu Furu fruit label was based on what I found online about the Pan Pacific International Club (PPIC). You can see from the labels in the pictures that the Furu Furu peaches are imported by Pan Pacific Retail Management, Singapore. PPIC is a major direct importer of Japanese agriculture and is able to provide savings via high volume bulk procurement. They also have a lot of social media posts talking about Furu Furu fruits from different parts of Japan and their use of the Brix gun.

If you know that I misidentified any peach variety or got any hypothesis or fact wrong, please leave a comment and I will correct the post.

Discover other premium Japanese fruits

• (also from Yamanashi) Yamanashi Summer Angel Plums
• (mentioned) Premium Furu Furu Kumamoto Strawberry from Japan
• Haruka Citrus from Japan
• Tamura Mikan, or Imperial Mikan, from Wakayama Prefecture 
• Shinano Gold Apple from Aomori, Japan
• Gourmet Tomato Sampling (Japanese-Grown Varieties) - Amela, Rubins, Bijin, Rosso Napolitan and more
• Oushuu Pear (King Autumn Asian Pear) from Tottori Prefecture, Japan

Juices of unusual fruits

• Buah Long Long Juice
• Sanbokan Citrus Pure Squeezed Juice by Ito-noen, from Arita, Wakayama, Japan
• Acai Juice

Interesting fruit-flavoured treats

• (also featuring peach) White Peach Castella by Minamoto Kitchoan
• Gardenia Pear Flavoured Caffe Latte by Luckin Coffee
• Brown Sugar Plum Latte by Luckin Coffee
• Kuzukiri Jelly Noodles in Fruit Juice by Ohara
• Triple Berry Chocolate Gouter de Roi Rusk by Gateau Festa Harada
• Unusual fruit flavoured soymilks
  Kyoho Grape Soymilk
  Kiwi Fruit Soymilk
  Fig Soymilk
  Nashi Pear Soymilk