Seasonal Flavors of Southern Nara

It’s persimmon season, and you’ll see these small, orange globes of sweetness for sale along the sides of roads and highways throughout southern Nara Prefecture. While I am happy enough to eat these almost everyday, their presence also means that the season of persimmon leaf sushi will soon be coming to an end. I wanted to enjoy this local specialty while I still could, and stopped by Matsuya in Kawakami Village yesterday.

Though there were plenty of persimmons for sale in front of the shop, the kind owner brought me a plate of figs from their personal tree. “The monkeys ate most of them last night, but we still had some good ones left,” he laughed as he walked back to the kitchen. I sipped my tea and took my time eating them while I waited for my chagayu rice porridge lunch.

My colorful lunch arrived after a few minutes. Included with its namesake chagayu rice porridge was the famous persimmon leaf sushi, ayu fish, local Nara pickles, and a variety of local wild vegetables. In addition to being delicious, I love this meal because it is a combination you can only find in southern Nara.

The persimmon leaves are still green, but they will soon be vibrant colors of red, yellow, and orange. While I love the beauty that this season brings to this delicious food, it unfortunately means we will soon have a long winter without sushi, and have to wait until the leaves are once again ready in spring.

We offer many programs that allow you to make local specialties, such as persimmon leaf sushi and chagayu rice porridge. Please feel free to ask us for more information!

Picking Persimmons and Making Persimmon Leaf Sushi

Staying in a Mountain Village and Making Persimmon Leaf Sushi

Making Anpo Persimmons and Persimmon Leaf Sushi

Stay in a Temple and Experience Yoga and Making Sushi