This is the famous daikon, the mighty Japanese radish, beloved among the poorer classes in its native land and abhorred by foreigners.
"Peeps at Many Lands: Japan"
John Finnemore
Millet and buckwheat rather than rice, with the universal daikon, are the staples of diet The climate is wet in summer and bitterly cold in winter.
"Unbeaten-Tracks-in-Japan"
Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy)
"daikon" literally means "big root."
"Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things"
Lafcadio Hearn