DJ misoshiru and MC gohan at the promotional event of Wakayama-grown kaki in Tokyo on Sept. 15.
TOKYO, Sept. 16 ― With Halloween looming, a Japanese farmers’ co-operative in Wakayama prefecture has held a promotional event in Tokyo to encourage visitors to eat local kaki.
Halloween is marked on Oct. 31 every year, on the eve of the Christian feast of All Saints’ Day.
Various Christian traditions developed around the holiday, such as lighting candles and offering prayers to the dead, which are still observed by many people today.
And JA Wakayama has capitalized the Christian holiday since 2014, as its locally-grown kaki resembles a pumpkin’s shape and color.
Kaki production in Wakayama in 2017 totaled 47,500 metric tons, accounting for about 20 percent of the country’s total output of the fruit, according to the agriculture ministry.
JA Wakayama projects a 20 percent drop in kaki production this year due to the heavy rains that hit western Japan in June and July.