Japan 91 Colors of life8

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JAPAN
Colors of life
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White-cheeked Starling (Spodiopsar cineraceus) 
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The word Diospyros comes from the ancient Greek
words "dios" and "pyron". A popular etymology
construed this as "divine fruit", or as meaning
"wheat of Zeus" or "God's pear" and "Jove's
fire". The Modern Greek name for the fruit is
lotos, which leads modern Greeks to the
assumption that this is the lotus referred to in
Homer's Odyssey (from Greek mythology the
lotus-eaters also referred to as the lotophagi or
lotophaguses were a race of people living on an
island).  It refers to a belief in Greece that
this fruit could have been the lotus fruit
mentioned in Homers Odyssey. According to that
story, the lotus fruit was so delicious that
those of Odysseuss men who ate it forgot about
returning home and wanted to stay and eat lotus
with the native lotus-eaters.
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The Japanese persimmon (D. kaki) has been
cultivated in Asia for over 3000 years, allowing
ample time for folklore and myths to develop
among its people. A mixture of crab and persimmon
was considered extremely poisonous by Daoist
wisdom (Encyclopedia of religion)
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Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) kaki-ni-kirigirisu
via Library of Congress
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Kaki are in season in late autumn and winter when
they are often seen hanging on otherwise barren
trees. Originally coming from China, kaki have
been cultivated in Japan since the 7th century
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Its a popular fruit in Iran as well. The local
name Khormaloo means date-plum. Persian
cuisine features persimmon in both sweet and
savory dishes
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Its common for those living in the Ozark
Mountains to use persimmon fruit to gauge the
weather local legend has it that one can tell if
the winter will be mild or severs by the way the
knife cuts through the fruit
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Legnasanta In Naples, local lore tells that, by
opening the fruit one can see the crucifix, which
is why the fruit is also called legnasanta (or
holy wood)
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The Spanish call it palosanto for the same reason
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Bright orange color of persimmons displayed at
unmanned sales place is attracting hiker's
attention
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Tsuchiya Rakusan (1896 - 1976)
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When it comes to persimmons, called kaki in
Japanese, there are two main types. One type is
the hachiya persimmon the astringent type that
can only be eaten when very soft or all youll
get is a mouthful of bitterness. The other is
called fuyu gaki a shorter, squatter persimmon
which can be eaten at any period of ripeness.
Fuyu persimmons are distinguished by their "flat"
bottoms and squat shape.
Fuyus should be more orange then yellow and are
at their best when just barely a teensy bit soft.
They will ripen after being picked, so buying
rock-hard Fuyus and allowing them to ripen at
home can be a good strategy for these fragile
fruits
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Tsuchiya Rakusan (1896 - 1976)
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Ike no Taiga Butterfly and Persimmons (Kaki to
chô), 1820
Seiji Sano (Japanese, 1959) Before Dawn
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Utagawa Hiroshige (17971858) Persimmons and
Japanese White-Eye
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Kazuyuki Ohtsu (Japanese, 1935)
Interestingly, traditional Japanese beliefs also
cite Persimmons as a risk during pregnancy.
Pregnant women are warned that consumption of
persimmons could make the uterus cold and lead
to a miscarriage
Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 17251770)
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Kazuyuki Ohtsu (Japanese, 1935) Rising Moon
Kazuyuki Ohtsu (Japanese, 1935) Sudden Snow
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The kaki (Diospyros kaki), or Japanese persimmon,
is one of the few fruits that are native to
Japan. Until sugar production began in Okinawa
and western Japan in the early seventeenth
century, dried kakis were the only form of
sweetening, except for honey, available in Japan
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Persimmons are eaten fresh, dried, raw, or
cooked. Spicy persimmon cookies with walnut and
raisins
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A scenic temple named Zuirin-ji lies near
Mino-Kamo railway station in Gifu Prefecture,
central Japan. The historical temple enshrining
successive shoguns and heads of ancient
governments is popularly called the Kaki Temple
by local residents. The transoms of the temple's
main hall bear kaki motifs, while baskets that
were used to offer kakis to the imperial family
are still displayed in a corner of the room. An
old map preserved at the temple indicates two
kaki-producing sites, one of which is located at
the back of the temple. The resident priest says
the sites were places where dried kakis were
made. The village of Hachiya, where the temple is
located, offered dried kakis to the shogun every
year as an officially recognized confectionary
manufacturer for the Edo shogunate
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Drying persimmons, Yamanashi Prefecture, Enzan
City
Dry persimmon. GionTown in Higashiyama area,
Kyoto
In Japan, China, Korea, and Vietnam, 'Hachiya'
persimmons after harvesting are prepared using
traditional hand-drying techniques outdoors for
two to three weeks
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Interestingly, the sweet, dried persimmons are
not made of the sweet persimmons. The dried
persimmons are made of the sour persimmons
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The fruit is then further dried by exposure to
heat over several days before being shipped to
market
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In Japan, the dried fruit is called hoshigaki
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It is eaten as a snack or dessert and used for
other culinary purposes
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Making hoshigaki is simple. Firm shibui kaki are
peeled and hung in the sun to dry over a period
of approximately two months (this is a highly
debatable duration of time)
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The kakiare massaged over this time which
breaks up the pulp of the fruit and encourages
the surfacing of sugars
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The desired final result is a small,
dark hoshigaki with a light, sweet dusting of
white on the outside
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Dried persimmons - Japanese style
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Air conditioning, lifts and peeling machines help
speed up the traditional drying process
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Persimmon (kaki in Japanese) has been revered in
Japan for centuries, unlike in the west where
it has never advanced beyond the status of a
minor fruit
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Greenhouses for making dry kaki(Japanese
persimmon) fruits, in Umeno, Yamato, Saga city
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The Chinese use persimmon fruit as a metaphor for
human life tasteless and bitter when too young,
soft and sweet once mature. Stunning aerial
photos show rooftops covered in an orange colour
as persimmons dry in the sun in China baskets of
persimmons lined up on the roofs in Guangde
village
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Chinese woman harvests persimmon skins which are
fed to livestock
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Text pictures Internet Copyright All the
images belong to their authors Presentation
Sanda Foisoreanu
2017
Sound Toshinori Yonekura - I do not sit
still can not be sure