When you think of “autumn” and “food,” what kinds of meals or ingredients would come to mind for you? You might think of parsnips, butternut squash or pumpkins, maybe even cooking a pumpkin pie using your Halloween leftovers. Or in terms of fruit, maybe apples & blackberries, or a nice crumble made from the two?
In Japan, like the rest of the world, every season has its own foods associated with it – items sold in stores, or flavours you can find in seemingly everything. In this article, we will go over a few foods you can expect to find in Japanese supermarkets this autumn, a little bit of history behind them, and some of the ways in which you can hope to enjoy them.
Pile of kabocha pumpkins – Photo Credit: Cavan-Images
Pumpkin / kabocha (かぼちゃ)
For all you pumpkin lovers, you’re in luck – pumpkins are a beloved autumn food in Japan too! Though your luck might run a little thin if you’re on the lookout for an orange one. Japan’s most widely available pumpkins are much smaller than the ones we’re used to in the West, with a green, sometimes black skin instead, though taste-wise the two are pretty much the same.
In the past, pumpkin was considered a kind of emergency crop – food shortages during and just after World War 2 required the people to grow anything they could, wherever they could, so pumpkin became one of those crops cultivated in any available space. However, it eventually fell out of popularity after the period, potentially due to a continued association with such tough times.
That said, nowadays you wouldn’t suspect that for even a moment. Pumpkin has become one of the popular autumn flavours that occupies konbini and bakeries, with desserts such as pumpkin wagashi or pumpkin cheesecake available! On the savoury side, you can find it served tempura style, in curries, or as kabocha no nimono – soft bite-sized chunks simmered in soy sauce at izakaya or in bento.
Matsutake mushrooms on sale at a market – Photo Credit: Picturesque Japan
Matsutake mushrooms (松茸)
Mushrooms are likely the universal autumn ingredient, with Japan using them as common additions to dishes year-round. Naturally-grown mushrooms, however, as opposed to cultivated, are the ones synonymous with this time of year, the most famous of these kinds being the matsutake variety.
Denoted by their spicy & piney smell and taste, matsutake (meaning “pine mushrooms”) are found under pine trees. For centuries, they were viewed as symbols of status – enjoyed exclusively by the imperial court until the 17th century, with strictly controlled harvests, and nowadays they make for impressive wedding or business gifts. Unlike several other loved variants that can be cultivated, matsutake mushrooms cannot be, making autumn the only time they can be consumed. This, combined with them rapidly losing freshness upon harvest and their habitat on the decline, makes them incredibly rare. With a price to match, one pound averaged at around 1,000 US dollars!
Assuming you’re willing to fork out several thousand yen for the experience, you can taste matsutake mushrooms either grilled, in soup, in matsutake-gohan with rice, or raw with oil and salt.
Sliced sweet potato – Photo Credit: ROHE Creative Studio
Sweet potato / satsuma-imo (さつま芋)
Denoted by their reddish-purple skin, sweet potato, or satsuma-imo, is a root vegetable with several varieties that are savoured all year, but remain closely associated with autumn.
The name satsuma-imo stems from how the vegetable spread to the rest of Japan from the Satsuma region in south Kyushu, now Kagoshima Prefecture. During the 1700s, the people were encouraged by the shogun to grow sweet potatoes as an emergency crop in case of a poor rice harvest, successfully reducing the effects of famine at the time; such a strategy was repeated during and after World War 2 while suffering food shortages, like with pumpkins.
Sweet potato is a popular choice for tempura, and is also enjoyable in sake form as imo-jochu. But by far the most popular means of consuming it is in the form of yaki-imo. These are created by baking the potatoes with the skin on, creating a soft texture and sweeter flavour. Such a style has been sold for decades out of kei trucks, in a similar manner to ice cream trucks, though their prevalence has declined in the modern era – definitely worth a try if you see one!
Persimmon on a cutting board – Photo Credit: Nungning20
Persimmon / kaki (柿)
You might think these look similar to the offspring of a tomato and a bell pepper, but they taste nothing like it. Kaki are fruits that have a sweet taste that has been described as similar to honey, with an apricot-like texture and a tough outer skin. These fruits are most frequently grown in Wakayama Prefecture, which for many years has been responsible for about a fifth of Japan’s total harvest. In 2021, 188,000 tonnes were produced!
People often eat kaki dried, but it is also perfectly fine to eat them raw, skin included. They can also be used in salads, mochi, or baked into bread & pastries. For those interested in the fruit, there are some areas of Wakayama Prefecture where you can pick persimmons off the trees, with Katsuragi Town in particular having a number of such places, so if that’s the kind of experience you’re interested in, give it a look!
Whole and sliced nashi pear – Photo Credit: YUMIK
Nashi pear (梨)
Unlike the bulb-shaped fruits you’d find in the West, Japanese nashi pears are rounder in shape, larger in size, and juicier – not unlike an oversized apple. They have the same crispy texture as apples, but nashi are differentiated by a high-water content (roughly 90%), making them the ideal refreshment during the heat. They can easily be identified in supermarkets by their packaging, each one covered in a mesh jacket to prevent bruising. Nashi also tend to be on the expensive side, so extra care is taken to maintain their quality.
There are different varieties available – kosui, the most widely-known variety; the larger and less acidic niitaka; the less juicy and more browned shinko…whatever taste you prefer, there’s most likely a variety that suits you!
The best way to enjoy nashi is also the simplest – wash it, peel it, then slice it, again like you would an apple. With the summer heat persisting well into autumn, nashi still makes for the perfect snack if you’re in need of refreshment.
Bowl of chestnuts – Photo Credit: KEI.MIYAKE
Chestnuts / kuri (栗), or maron (マロン)
As you can see, chestnuts have two names in Japanese – if you see it referred to as kuri, then it is being used for savoury purposes; if it’s called maron, then it’s a sweet item.
Chestnut consumption in Japan has been traced all the way back to the Jomon period (8000-300 BC); since this was a time pre-dating rice agriculture, nuts like chestnuts and acorns were likely the staple food of the time. Rice may have replaced it since, but it remains an oft-used ingredient in autumn in the present.
The primary uses of chestnuts are as maron in sweet foods, with several cakes filled with chestnut paste being sold in stores. Maron wagashi, such as manju and dango, are fairly popular, with Mont Blanc also being available in several convenience stores and supermarkets. On the savoury end, the most well-known dish is kuri-gohan, rice with chestnuts mixed in. And speaking of rice…
Bamboo box of shinmai – Photo Credit: Chiristumo
Newly harvested rice / shinmai (新米)
Rice is the modern-day staple food of Japan, but autumn manages to elevate its flavour to its peak. After the summer is spent planting and growing rice all across the country, it is now the time of year when that rice is ready for distribution. Shinmai has two different definitions, as rice that was harvested either:
- by December 31st of that harvest year, or
- between November 1st of the previous year and October 31st of the current one
Fortunately, it is rather easy to tell the difference between shinmai and other rice for yourself – shinmai is sweeter, stickier, and has more moisture, plus it visibly has more of a shine to it.
The time at which it hits the shelves varies by both location and rice type, with the south typically selling it first, working northwards. When shopping around for shinmai, be sure to check the rice bags for their production and milling dates to ensure you’re finding the most authentic shinmai.
At this time of year, many restaurants will be serving shinmai, so make sure you try it at least once and taste the difference for yourself. And for the ultimate autumn food experience, why not enjoy a bowl of kuri-gohan made using shinmai?
Bowl of matsutake-gohan – Photo Credit: bonchan
Whether savoury or sweet, a hearty vegetable or refreshing fruit, hopefully, there’s been something in this article that caters to your taste buds. Year-long delights like sweet potato, pumpkin and rice are currently in their peak season, with mushrooms having some of the rarest and most unique varieties coming to stores. Nashi make for good nourishment in the leftover heat, with kaki coming in to take over as the weather cools down. And chestnuts are a prevalent ingredient for both main meals and desserts. With plenty of different options to let you enjoy Japan’s flavours of autumn, get out there and find your favourite!
Featured Photo Credit: Nishihama
Ready for an autumn adventure in Japan? Explore our top autumn tours to embrace the magic of the season!
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