Ichida Gaki

　ICHIDA GAKI is a dried persimmon with a unique, fine texture covered with white powder, made only from persimmons grown in Iida City, Nagano Prefecture and Iijima-cho and Nakagawa Village situated in the Shimo-ina and Kami-ina areas.

　Ichida persimmon is a variety with a high sugar content of 18% or more at maturity, and its sugar content can be as high as 65 to 70% when dried and condensed as dried persimmon. Due to the sugars consisting mainly of glucose and fructose, it has an elegant, smooth and sweet taste. ICHIDA GAKI has a light brown color and a soft, chewy flesh, but in addition to the qualities of raw Ichida persimmon, thorough drying and proper kneading are also important.

　The persimmons are kneaded many times using a machine while adjusting the amount of fruit and the time. With Ichida persimmons, which are small, kneading gives good results and the chewiness of the fruit comes out well. In addition, glucose which oozes from the pulp crystallizes on the surface into a white powder that gives the surface a fine sheen as if it were makeup.

　ICHIDA GAKI producing area is a fruit orchard zone spreading over river terraces on the banks of the Tenryu River. During the late autumn and early winter, which is the harvest season for persimmon, there is river fog from the Tenryu River due to chilling in the morning and evening. The river fog climbs up the river terraces, bringing excellent temperature and humidity conditions that slowly dry even small Ichida persimmons.

　It is said that bitter persimmons were cultivated in this region and processing was carried out from the Kamakura period. The origin of the raw Ichida persimmon is said to be an old persimmon tree which was in the grounds of Shimoda Shrine in the 1800's. As it became known that "baked persimmon" made with those persimmons were delicious, it gradually came to be cultivated in the village

　In 1921, volunteers of the Ichida Village of that time carried out many studies and created a dried persimmon which had a wonderful color and taste. This was shipped to markets in Tokyo, and named ICHIDA GAKI, after its birthplace. ICHIDA GAKI is eaten as a preserved food from January to February, and is now firmly established as a regional tradition, Hagatame (teeth strengthening), at New Year's feasts.