| SHIMANE, Dec. 4 – Hata Region in Higashi Izumo Town, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, is in the busiest season for producing Maruhata Hoshi-Gaki (Maruhata-brand dried persimmons). Sheds dedicated to drying persimmons, called kaki-goya in Japanese, are filled with curtains of yellow-red persimmons dancing in the wind.
A 75-year-old farmer and owner of a shed, Chie Morihiro, sorts and peels locally-produced persimmons on the first floor and hangs them in the well-ventilated rooms on the second and third floors. She processes approximately 1,300 persimmons a day. She carefully controls the rooms’ moisture by opening and closing the windows to air dry the fruits for about a month until they turn light brown products with richly melty texture and dense sweetness. The region has a history of producing dried persimmons for about 450 years. During the Sengoku era (the period of civil wars in Japan), hoshi-gaki was an emergency food that could substitute sugar, which was very valuable. The association of dried persimmon producers in Hata has 17 members, who produce approximately 300,000 dried persimmons and sell them primarily through an agricultural cooperative in Shimane Prefecture (JA Shimane). “The weather is good, and we can expect to make good products (this year),” Morihiro said smilingly.  Kaki-goya in the busiest season (in Hata Region, Higashi Izumo Town, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture) |