More than 120 years ago, Japanese immigrants were helping build Canada's first coast-to-coast rail line. It was the late 1880s, and they were also contributing to what would become one of the best-loved traditions in their new homeland - with the help of the Oppenheimer brothers.

Each winter, many of the early immigrants' relatives in Japan sent them gifts of mandarin oranges. The fruit was shared with new friends, and the custom of giving these seedless, easy-to-peel oranges at Christmastime was transplanted to the young country of Canada.

The Oppenheimer brothers were intrigued by the novelty and popularity of the oranges, so they formed a relationship with the growers and began importing the fruit directly.

Today, over a century later, people across Western Canada and many in the U.S. eagerly reach into the toes of their Christmas stockings, hoping Santa left them a perfect, sweet Japanese mandarin.

Fumio Mizuta is among the growers who have helped keep this tradition alive. There are about 84,000 commercial orange growers in Japan, and 80 percent of them, like Mizuta-san, farm on 2.5 acres or less.

Mizuta-san grows about 30 tons of mandarins annually on his property near Shizuoka City where he also produces tea. This season, he plans to send five tons of mandarins to the North American market through the Japan Fruit Growers Cooperative Association, which oversees Japanese produce exports.

"My father grew mandarin oranges, and I helped him since I was a child," Mizuta-san said. "Now, I have a 14-year-old boy and nine-year-old girl who work with me, along with my parents and my wife. We all work hard together."

During the summer, the family devotes its attention to thinning the fruit for the best possible yield.

"Doing this will lead to harvesting the right-sized, good looking oranges," Mizuta-san said. "The temperature in the orange grove in the summer will go up to 35 degrees C. It is hard work in hot weather, but if we don't do this, the burden to the trees will increase, and they won't bear fruit the following year."

Mizuta-san said that it is particularly enjoyable to work in the field in the fall when "lots of oranges turn beautiful colors until harvest time."

The family has seen a great deal of change in the mandarin industry over the years, like the way the fruit is shipped.

"We've seen the packing change from bundles to wooden crates, to master cartons, to reefer containers," he said.

Quality and flavor have long set the Japanese mandarin apart from its competition. However, growing regions were rocked by numerous typhoons in 2004, which led to disappointed retailers and consumers in North America and elsewhere last season.

"Japanese orange exporting has a very long history, and all of the Japanese producer organizations are trying hard not to repeat the quality problems that occurred last year," Mizuta-san said. "We are making every effort under the guidance of the agricultural cooperatives, so North Americans can eat delicious Japanese mandarin oranges once again."

The first shipments of Japanese mandarins reach our shores in November. In the quieter months following the harvest, Mizuta-san will enjoy catching pigfish at the Port of Shimizu, and catching up with friends.