Persimmon Day (Kaki no Hi)

What Is Persimmon Day?

October 26th is Persimmon Day (柿の日, Kaki no Hi), designated by the Japanese Fruit Tree Research Association to celebrate one of Japan's most beloved autumn fruits. The date commemorates October 26, 1895, when celebrated Meiji-era haiku poet Masaoka Shiki visited Hōryūji Temple in Nara and composed one of the most famous haiku in Japanese literary history.

The Haiku That Gave the Day Its Name

On October 26, 1895, Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) wrote:

Kaki kueba / Kane ga naru nari / Hōryūji
（柿くへば 鐘が鳴るなり 法隆寺）

"As I bite into persimmon, / temple bells begin to ring — / Hōryūji."

In seventeen syllables, Shiki captures an autumn afternoon in all its sensory richness: the sweetness of persimmon on the tongue, the deep resonance of ancient bells, the autumn light falling on a 1,400-year-old temple. It remains one of Japan's most widely recognised and beloved poems.

About Masaoka Shiki

• The reformer of haiku: Shiki rejected the rigid conventions of classical haiku and championed vivid, honest depiction of nature — a movement he called shasei (sketching from life)
• His love of persimmons: Shiki wrote dozens of haiku featuring persimmons. Even bedridden in his final years with tuberculosis, he continued to eat and celebrate the fruit he adored
• The name "Shiki": His pen name means hototogisu (lesser cuckoo) — a bird said to sing until it coughs blood, an image Shiki consciously associated with his own illness and creative drive

Japan's Persimmon Culture

• Production: Japan produces over 200,000 tonnes of persimmons annually; Wakayama, Nara, and Fukuoka are leading regions
• Sweet vs. astringent varieties: Fully sweet varieties (Fuyu, Jiro) are eaten fresh; astringent varieties are transformed into hoshigaki (dried persimmons), vinegar, or tannin-rich dyes
• Nutritional value: One persimmon provides nearly a full day's requirement of vitamin C, along with beta-carotene, potassium, and antioxidant tannins
• Hoshigaki: A beloved autumn craft — astringent persimmons peeled, hung to air-dry, and massaged daily until natural sugars crystallise on the surface
• Global reach: Known as persimmon in English, caqui in Spanish, and kaki in Italian and French — this ancient fruit is enjoyed worldwide

How to Mark This Day

• Eat a fresh, ripe persimmon and notice its sweetness and smooth texture
• Try making hoshigaki if astringent persimmons are available — a meditative autumn craft that rewards patience
• Read Shiki's haiku aloud: Kaki kueba kane ga naru nari Hōryūji — let the seventeen syllables carry you to a Nara afternoon in 1895
• Plan a visit to Hōryūji Temple — one of the world's oldest wooden structures and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

A Persimmon, a Bell, and 1,400 Years

Masaoka Shiki lived only to 35, spending his final eight years largely bedridden. Yet he transformed Japanese poetry and left behind a body of work that has endured for over a century. On October 26th, eat a persimmon, listen for something beautiful, and remember that the smallest sensory moments — a taste, a sound, a slant of autumn light — can hold an entire world.