Today, I'd love to write about kaki persimmon. They're very popular in Japan during the fall, but I've rarely seen them outside the country. According to Wikipedia, Spain, China, Korea and Japan are main countries to produce them. That makes them an interesting fruit for people living in other parts of the world.
In Japan, we eat kaki fresh, but if the fruit is astringent, we make dried fruit from them. Dried fruit add more sweetness, and some people prefer them.
Kaki fruit contain lots of vitamins and dietary fiber, so it's good for our health, even beauty.
The picture below shows my neighbor's kaki tree.
The tree produces beautiful orange fruit in fall. The skin is quite tough, so it’s usually peeled before eating.
In Japan we don't only eat kaki but also use them to our traditional crafts.
Kakishibu-zome is a traditional Japanese dyeing technique that uses persimmon tannin (kakishibu) to dye fabrics. The tannin contained in the persimmon tannin reacts with the fabric to produce a dye. This unique dyeing method played an important role in the production of traditional Japanese crafts and clothing. Kakishibu dyeing is known for its unique texture and beautiful colors.
Here’s a link to some images of kakishibu-zome: Google Search: Kakishibu-zome Images
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Yes, the persimmon is a very common fruit in Spain, Yumi @yumiyumayume . My wife eats it daily. Thank you very much for sharing it.
@druida I'm curious how you eat the fruit. Do you eat them fresh or dried? Do you know that in the 16C Portugal brought the kaki to the Europe from Japan? Rodrigo Tanaka might connect to the history!
We eat persimmons as a fruit and fresh, especially in the afternoon, Yumi @yumiyumayume .
I didn't know that persimmons come from Japan - how curious!
Yes, it's very interesting!
I had never had a persimmons fruit before I lived in Japan, and I've only seen them a couple of times afterward in America.
I love persimmons. In the UK you can buy them in the supermarket but they are inedible. When I lived in Japan I twice walked along the Yamanobe-no-michi in Nara. Farmers sold their persimmons along the route via "honesty boxes."
@Ersatzjello I've visited the States many times to learn china painting, but I've never seen the fruit either. I hope you enjoyed the fruit in Japan and like it.
@t4up3 When the fruit is inedible in the UK, how do you use them? Do you also dye "kakishibu-zome"? I want to write about "honesty boxes" but I didn't know the term in English. Thank you for writing it in your comment.
@yumiyumayume We just eat them and complain. Complaining is a British tradition.
@t4up3 We have the complaining culture too!