Ingevald had included this in the long list of Japanese photo sites, but I thought it ought to get pulled out. The English summary is at the bottom of the page. Interestingly, the pinching provided earlier ripening and extended season, apparently by advancing ripening of the first few figs, and then delaying the figs which formed after pinching. This was done on a specific variety, and might not be applicable to all varieties, as some varieties don't form fruit on the first few to several nodes.

Website

John,
Thanks for this info. Following Herman's suggestion I unually pinch after the forth leaf similar to the picture in this report.  After reading this I'm confused with the mention of the 9th node, 12th node, etc. Leaves vs. nodes is what I don't get. Can anyone enlighten me?
Peg

Each node has a leaf. They pinched at different  quantities of nodes to see which node gave the best results. They pinches art 4th, 9th and 12th as a test. If your variety doesn't set fruit till the 5th or 6th node, then pinching at the 4th means no fruit. They only tested one variety.

Thanks Jon, much clearer.

It was a bit of a surprise (if not a big one) that the results of pinching in the experimental case did not show improvement in the quality of the fruit but only expedited ripening of some fruits i.e. improved time to market which also means spreading production time.

They only have one fruit quality in Japan: perfect. They put more effort and care into growing an apple than raising a kid. OK that is an exaggeration, but they are very meticulous in the agricultural pursuits.