Quick Summary of Yaponskiy Krab (Japanese Crab)
- 🌍 Origin: A very famous commercial Russian variety originally registered by “Demetra-Sibir” (Altai region). The name translates to “Japanese Crab”, referring to the ribbed, somewhat flattened shape of the original strain that supposedly resembles a crab.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous, and tall (typically 1.5–2 meters / 5–6.5 ft). Known for being highly productive and relatively disease-resistant, producing fruit until late in the season.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Highly Variable! Because multiple commercial seed companies (Aelita, Sibsad, Poisk) sell their own strains, growers report vastly different results. The official description calls for heavily ribbed, flat-round pink tomatoes weighing 300-800g (10.5 oz – 1.7 lbs). However, many seed packets produce smooth pink globes, heart-shaped (“Enamored Crab”), or even red/raspberry unribbed fruits.
- 👅 Flavor: Regardless of the shape variation, almost all growers agree that the flavor is excellent—very meaty, sweet, balanced, and perfect for fresh slicing or juices.
- ⏳ Maturity: Mid-season (with some strains acting early or slightly late depending on the region and weather).
Yaponskiy Krab (from Aelita seeds)
There has been a lot of talk on the forum about what the real Yaponskiy Krab (Japanese Crab) is supposed to look like. In 2012, I grew it from Aelita seeds and it looked like this:
Indeterminate, grew over 2 meters (6.5 ft) in the greenhouse. The plant has medium vigor, large leaves, and trusses of 5-7 fruits. The fruits are perfectly oblate (flat-round) in shape, without any ribbing, scars, or distortions. The color is pink, and the taste is excellent. The plant itself is very beautiful, with festive clusters of stunningly beautiful fruits.
And here is my “Japanese Crab”, still growing and pleasing the eye. The bushes are tall. The fruit shape is smooth. There are some specimens of a very decent size.
Here it is compared to my husband’s fist.
Natasha, where are your Crab seeds from?
It doesn’t look like Olya’s.
Lada, from Aelita. Mine is yellow…
Damn, Olya has a pink one, you have a yellow one, and what about the shape? In the previous photos, the shape is completely different. I have Crab from Olga, I planted it last year — I liked it. But here is a totally different tomato. What do you think, Vera?
Yaponskiy Krab (yellow) is listed in the variety catalog.
Sveta, type YAPONSKIY KRAB into Google/Yandex, and you’ll see a pink one from Aelita.
Lada, the yellow one is from Alexandrov, I don’t remember if he bred it himself or not, it’s sort of unregistered 🫣
Honestly, I don’t know where the seeds are from. I know it’s supposed to be pink. We just bought our dacha (summer house) recently. It was already growing in the garden beds, and the previous owner praised this variety very much.
Natasha, the tomato is great, the size and shape are impressive — everything is excellent!!!! But this is not Krab 😞
Drosera: Lada, the yellow one is from Alexandrov, I don’t remember if he bred it himself or not, it’s sort of unregistered 🫣
What do you mean “unregistered”? Which one? The pink one from Aelita is very much registered and sold in stores. And private breeders, with all due respect to their work, tend to take liberties when interpreting names.
Mine is from Sveta in St. Petersburg. Hers is from Alexandrov. It was quite alright, I liked it, both tasty and beautiful. And the yield wasn’t bad. 👍
The most interesting thing is that somewhere I came across a RED Yaponskiy Krab. And it’s ribbed.
Lada, regarding the names… It’s a tough question. I have a feeling that a third of the collection are just identical twins under different names. 😞
Here was the discussion about the “crabs” and their names.
barbariska: Natasha, the tomato is great, the size and shape are impressive — everything is excellent!!!! But this is not Krab 😞
Why not? Strange. Here is another photo of the bush.
Is this also not it?? 😕
Svetinka, I am familiar with that topic, the debates didn’t lead to a final conclusion and it’s not worth renewing them. The pink Yaponskiy Krab exists, and it’s a very decent variety. Both are represented in our catalog, which makes me very happy. Why did you link to the yellow crab?
The thing is, your fruit shows a rounded heart shape, whereas Krab should be oval and flattened (oblate).
Natusik: And here is my “Japanese Crab”, still growing and pleasing the eye. The bushes are tall. The fruit shape is smooth. There are some specimens of a very decent size.
I had a Japanese Crab exactly identical to yours. I think it is an off-type (crossed seed), so I nicknamed it “Enamored Crab” (because of the heart shape). BUT THE TOMATO IS VERY TASTY AND BEAUTIFUL.
barbariska: The thing is, your fruit shows a rounded heart shape, whereas Krab should be oval and flattened (oblate).
Maybe it all comes down to the fact that there are different “producers”? For example, I found this picture on the internet, exactly with that heart shape, which looks very similar in form to mine.
There you go, Lidush 😂😂😂 Maybe it’s not an off-type after all 😉
Natasha, can you give a link to read the description, or at least copy what the seller writes there? And who is this, what kind of seller?
barbariska: There you go, Lidush 😂😂😂 Maybe it’s not an off-type after all 😉 Natasha, can you give a link to read the description…
The photo on my seed packet showed a flat-round and ribbed tomato, but it grew out “enamored”, that is, heart-shaped.
barbariska: Natasha, can you give a link to read the description, or at least copy what the seller writes there?
There is the description:
TOMATO “JAPANESE CRAB”
Mid-season, tall, high-yielding variety. Bush height up to 180 cm (6 ft). Fruit weight 300-400 g (10.5-14 oz). Forms up to six trusses. Fruits until autumn. One of the most delicious tomato varieties.
The most important thing is that the tomato is tasty, awesome 👍👍👍
barbariska: Why did you link to the yellow crab?
The link — because doubts arose about the existence of a yellow one. If there are no doubts — well, that’s wonderful.
Many of the varieties offered there I’ve seen on Ukrainian forums, and there are some quite good ones among them (if they actually correspond to the name, of course).
My Yaponskiy Krab is just like Nelli’s, only raspberry-pink.
Found a description of Japanese Crab from 1996 in my old printed catalogs. Quoting word for word.
Mid-season, fruits of amazing shape resembling a crab claw. Very meaty. Fruit weight 300-400 gm (10.5-14 oz).
How about that! And what shape should it have to look like a claw? Does anyone have any guesses? 😕
Verochka, I had that description somewhere too. Seems like they should be elongated with a “beak” (pointed tip), at least that’s how I imagined them back then.
I bought seeds of Yaponskiy Krab from Russian Garden (Siberian series), and the photo shows a flat-round, ribbed RED tomato. The description says: indeterminate, mid-season, red fruits up to 600 g (1.3 lbs), meaty. If anyone wants to plant these, I can share the seeds.
tomatinka: Mid-season, fruits of amazing shape resembling a crab claw… Any guesses?
Actually, I had a crab like that last year 😳! In the shape of an irregular, sort of curved thick plum with a sharp beak — not a blunt round end. A truly meaty, tasty tomato, didn’t weigh it but it was around 300g (10.5 oz). After reading reviews on the forum, I decided I just had an off-type. Didn’t plant it this year, as other “crabs” appeared.
Here is what I got.
Seeds: Aelita.
Yield: 🙌🙌🙌, grew right up to the greenhouse roof, fruited until the very end.
Taste wasn’t great, it all went into making juice.
Olya, thanks for the info 👍, I bought the exact same packet. Could you share the batch number, so I can identify it fully. 📝
And I have the exact same packet. Batch 16.352.
Tamara! Look for the real one! The originator of the Yaponskiy Krab variety in the State Register is the company “Demetra-Sibir” from Altai. From the description in the State Register: mid-season, super productive variety — 11 kg/sq m (2.2 lbs/sq ft). Fruits are PINK, flat-round WITH STRONG RIBBING, average weight 300g (10.5 oz), multi-chambered with EXCELLENT taste.
Has anyone grown these?
The company “Poisk” also sells this variety with the correct picture. Let’s see what grows — waiting for reviews.
From the Aelita seeds and Ukrainian companies, people are growing pink, flat-round fruits with a much smoother shape.
About the “Yellow Yaponskiy Krab” (N. Alexandrov’s variety), it’s better to write in the corresponding thread. What they have in common is high yield and ribbed fruits.
barbariska: And I have the exact same packet. Batch 16.352.
And I have both the packet (AELITA) and the batch exactly the same, and it’s probably more pink than red –
barbariska: And I have the exact same packet. Batch 16.352.
Lada, and what grew? (I have the same batch)
Plena: Olya, thanks for the info 👍, I bought the exact same packet. Could you share the batch number… 📝
Lena, batch 16.352 exp 12.2016
