Citrus unshiu is a semi-seedless and easy-peeling citrus species, also known as the satsuma mandarin or Japanese mandarin. During the Edo period of Japan, kishu mikans were more popular because there was a popular superstition that eating Citrus unshiu without seeds made people prone to infertility. Citrus unshiu became popular in Japan after modernization started in the Meiji period. It was introduced to the West from the Satsuma region of Japan in 1878.

The kishu mikan is a hybrid variety of mikan, or mandarin orange, found in Southern China and also grown in Japan.