Kaki no Ha Sushi

My mother went to trip, and got this as a souvenir.
It is sold as Eki-ben(train lunch).

"Kaki no Ha Sushi"
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Have you ever tried? or heard of it??

Kaki no Ha Sushi is SUSHI which is wrapped up with persimmon leaves.

like this →→ What did you think when you saw this pic?

looks delicious? or GREEN?

...I might not eat it, if I were not Japanese and didn't know its culture.


This sushi is local dishes of Nara-pref. The origin dates back to Nanboku-chou era, and it is told persimmon leaves were used as plates to serve sushi. In the process, people made sushi wrapped up with it and lightly-pressed.

They hold it with hands and peel the leaf away and eat!, normally don't eat the leaf. it means they don't have to use chopsticks and also hands don't get dirty.

if i open, it looks...

from left,

Saba(chub mackerel), Sake(salmon), Aji(horse mackerel), Tai(sea bream).

I love salmon, but some said it's for children :P hehe

Well, I have a question. "WHY is it wrapped up with persimmon leaves?"

is it only for avoiding hands get dirty? not plastic wrap? not other leaf?


The answer is...
persimmon leaves have natural infection-fighting properties. it can preserve for a couple of days. Moreover, the taste will much better when the smell of the leaf would soak through sushi. But reason why they started to use was there are plenty of the leaves near-at-hand.

Sushi has a lot of varieties, especially as local dishes. I got more interest to sushi.
Do you have your local sushi in your hometown?