Persimmon industry and research activities in Japan.

In Japan, persimmon along with grape rank fourth in production, behind citrus which is first and apple which is second. Total tonnage for persimmon is estimated at 302,200 tons in 1994 and it accounts for about 7% of the total fruit tonnage of major fruit crops. Wakayama, Fukuoka, Nara and Gifu Prefectures are primary production areas, followed by Aichi, Ehime, Niigata and Yamagata Prefectures. Currently, principal cultivars are 'Fuyu', 'Matsumotowase Fuyu', 'Jiro' and 'Maekawa Jiro' for nonastringent-types and 'Hiratanenashi', 'Tonewase' and 'Hachiya' for astringent-types. Among pollination-variant and nonastringent-types, 'Nishimurawase' is the most popular cultivar. There is a breeding program for early ripening, nonastringent cultivars, with large fruit and high quality at the Fruit Research Station at Akitsu Branch, where new cultivars have been released recently. Other research trends are focusing on the cultural practices such as training system for reducing tree height, crop production in plastic houses for improving fruit duality, postharvest studies related to artificial treatments for astringency removal, physiological aspects for fruit set and development and chemical properties of persimmon tannins. Crop improvement utilizing protoplast culture or transformation, is also progressing.