The influences of the fruiting position in the canopy on the maturity and content of functional components in ‘Nanko’ Japanese apricot (Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc.) fruit were investigated for 4 years. In fruit located on the inner side of the canopy, the time that the trichome fell out over 30% of their surface, an indicator of harvest, was later, and the beginning of harvest was 4-10 days later than on the outer side of the canopy every year. Fruit weight and b* value and L* value of skin color tended to increase, and firmness tended to decrease with fruit development, and there were no differences between fruit on the inner and outer sides of the canopy when they were compared at the same stage, the beginning of harvest. Contents of citric acid, sorbitol and β-caroten tended to increase with fruit development, and there were also no differences between the flesh of the fruit on the inner and outer sides of the canopy when they were compared at the same stage, the beginning of harvest. However, phenolic content and antioxidant activity tended to decrease with fruit development, and in the flesh of the fruit on the inner side of the canopy they tended to be lower than in fruit on the outer side of the canopy when they were compared at the same stage, the beginning of harvest. These results indicate that delaying the harvest time of fruit on the inner side of the canopy makes their fruit weight and some functional components equal to the fruit on the outer side of canopy, but causes poorer phenolic content and antioxidant activity than on the outer side of the canopy.