The prospects of Taiwan's atemoya making inroads into the Japanese market looks favorable, as an official from the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) has promised to promote the fruit, an official of the Taitung County government said Friday. Ho Shih-min, who is in charge of the cultural and tourism affairs of the city government, said that during a visit to Taitung by members of the JATA in February, Taitung County Magistrate Kuang Li-cheng recommended the fruit to the visitors. JATA President Tomoaki Hukuhara liked the taste of the fruit -- sweet and yet slightly tart -- and before his departure vowed to 'make every effort to promote the fruit so it could make inroads into the Japan market,' Ho said. During another visit to Taitung earlier this month, Hukuhara learned that the county produces about 120,000 tons of atemoya annually, and made a commitment to buy 10,000 tons for export to Japan, according to Ho. Although the fruit was not in season at the time, Hukuhara visited the production region, Ho added. The magistrate said the quarantine problems related to the fruit can be overcome and that he hopes to impress Japanese consumers with the product. In recent years, Taitung has been aggressively promoting its atemoya and has made inroads into the China and Hong Kong markets. The atemoya, or Annonax atemoya, is a cross between two tropical fruits -- the sweetsop (Annona squamosa) and the cherimoya (Annona cherimola) -- which are both native fruits of the tropical Americas. It is popular in Taiwan where it is known as the 'pineapple sweetsop.' 