Protected local food
Toyama Hoshigaki
富山干柿
Large, amber dried persimmons from Nanto city in Toyama, made from Sanja, a local persimmon variety grown for more than 300 years. Very sweet with a chewy bite.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 19 August 2020
- Region
- Chubu
- Official name in Japanese
- 富山干柿
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 平成16年10月31日時点における行政区画名としての富山県西砺波郡福光町及び東砺波郡城端町（現在の富山県南砺市内の一部）
A variety found only here
Toyama hoshigaki are made from Sanja, a persimmon that has grown in the old towns of Fukumitsu and Johana, now Nanto city in Toyama, for more than 300 years. Since 1955 growers have kept selecting the trees with the biggest fruit, the best drying yield and the best flesh.
Big, amber and chewy
The dried fruit is amber, shaped like a bullet and heavy in the hand. It is intensely sweet with a firm, chewy bite.
Poor soil, deep snow
Sanja is very prone to a disease that strikes when the soil is rich in nitrogen, so the area's thin red soil suits it. Nanto gets heavy snow, but Sanja trees grow tall with branches high off the ground, so the snow does little damage.
Good to know
- Nanto is home to Gokayama, a World Heritage village of steep thatched farmhouses.
- Compare with Higashiizumo Maruhata Hoshigaki, soft, tower-dried persimmons from Shimane.
Questions travellers ask
When are they sold?
From late autumn through winter, especially as year-end gifts.
How do I eat them?
As they are, with green tea, or sliced with cheese.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.