Higashiizumo Maruhata Hoshigaki

Persimmon towers

In late autumn the hamlet of Hata in Higashiizumo, Matsue city, Shimane, hangs curtains of peeled persimmons inside special drying huts two to four storeys tall. The huts are built to catch the cool seasonal wind, and the hamlet has made dried persimmons for more than 400 years.

Sweet, soft and dusted white

The fruit is the local Saijo persimmon. Dried, the flesh turns deep orange and a white bloom of sugar forms on the skin. The sugar level reaches about 80 degrees Brix, yet the sweetness tastes refined. They are dried right to the core but stay about as soft as an earlobe.

A year-end gift

The clay soil here holds water and nutrients but drains well, and cold nights follow mild days in late autumn. Maruhata hoshigaki are a prized oseibo, the year-end gift that Japanese people send to thank family and business contacts.