There are more than 190 varieties of the tree growing in China, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Polynesia, Africa, India, North America, and Mexico. The persimmon tree does not grow in very cold regions. The very hard wood is used in the orient for Buddhist altars and fine furniture. Ebony is a variety of persimmon. Until fifty or sixty years ago, persimmon tannin was commonly used in Japan as a moisture-resistant treatment for a variety of household utensils, like bamboo baskets and wooden kitchenware. Nearly every farm had a persimmon tree. The kakishibu was quite easily prepared, and a jug or barrel of it was kept in a cool dark spot for use as needed. Japan's high humidity made it a necessity as a preservative on fencing and latticework around the house. At one time, many towns would have had at least one "shibuya" where folks could purchase the kakishibu for home use. There is one such shop left in the old part of Kyoto. Even though it is quite a modern city, some of the residents hold on to the old traditional ways. Articles made from paper (or a combination of paper and bamboo) and treated with kakishibu were numerous, and one can still to find these at antique and flea markets. Most common are old katagami (paper stencils for kimono dying). Other items—like umbrellas, kamiko (paper clothing), pouches, baskets, trays, fans, boxes, and books with kakishibu-treated covers—can also be found. Although there is growing interest today in kakishibu, whether it be for paper crafts, textiles, woodwork, cosmetics, or medicine, little has been written about it. One usually applies kakishibu to paper with a brush, but paper can also be dipped into a bucket of the liquid, if the paper can withstand the treatment. Kakishibu momigami (crumpled paper) can be made either by brushing the kakishibu onto the sheet and then crumpling it, or by carefully dipping the already-crumpled sheet into the liquid. One should crumple treated paper while it is still slightly damp, particularly when applying a second or third application of kakishibu, because dry treated paper may be brittle and could tear. Rich textured effects can be achieved with multiple applications of kakishibu. The liquid will pool up in the valleys of a crumpled sheet and those areas will be darker. Shibori techniques, such as those applied to fabric, work well with kakishibu paper, as long as the sheet is strong enough. An interesting effect can be achieved by draping a wet sheet over a pole and gathering the sheet into pleats. After some time in the sunshine, the exposed, high areas of the pleats will turn a darker color than the hidden areas. Alternatively, the damp sheet can be crumpled into a ball, then exposed to the sun until the color changes. At varying intervals, one can gradually unfold the sheet to expose more and more of the surface to the sun, until the whole sheet is exposed. Kakishibu liquid has a very pungent odor. After the applied liquid dries, the odor will gradually disappear. Kakishibu will not wash out of fabric and will be difficult to remove if it dries on your skin. There is also a strong chemical reaction when kakishibu comes in contact with iron; the color will turn deep purple or black. If the paper is to be used for book covers, it is a good idea to treat only one side of the sheet. The untreated side will accept adhesives like wheat paste more easily. Making Kakishibu There are many types of persimmons growing in Japan. Some are sweet when ripe, while others are inedible or shibui. For making kakishibu, unripe green persimmons, which have the most tannin, are picked in late summer. The most common type used for kakishibu is about the size of a golf ball. The first step is to crush the green fruit, either one-by-one in a hand lever press or with a mallet or stone, or several together in a mortar and pestle. The crushed fruits are placed in a bucket and water is added to the level of the fruit. After several days fermentation will begin. Once ready, the liquid is strained and kept in a container and used as needed. This was the simple method used by rice and vegetable farmers, who were usually too busy in late summer to spend much time making kakishibu. Other farmers, who owned multiple persimmon trees, developed another, more practical method, which required more time and equipment, such as a press, strainers, and buckets. These farmers would sell kakishibu to the shibuya to supplement their incomes. For two years, in August 2000 and August 2001, we held a workshop in making kakishibu at Jionji Press in Ogawamachi. The process we used follows: A team of people picked green persimmons using long bamboo poles, notched on one end to fit into the stem, just at the crown of the fruit. By twisting the pole, the stem would snap and the fruit would drop to the ground. (Climbing a persimmon tree could be dangerous because the limbs break easily.) Next we crushed the collected persimmons by placing several of them in a sturdy plastic bag and smashing them with mallets. It was not necessary to remove the skins or to pulverize the fruit completely. Then the crushed fruits were placed in buckets and water was added up to the level of the fruit. We left this mixture in a cool, dark place for three days to a week, mixing it two or three times each day to promote fermentation. Next we placed the crushed persimmons from the mixture in a cloth bag and squeezed them, to extract as much liquid as possible. This extracted liquid was three times as strong as the liquid remaining in the buckets. After straining all the pulp we had two mixtures. We transferred the liquids into glass and ceramic containers. We were careful not to tighten the lids because fermentation was continuing and we wanted to allow the gas to escape. After fermentation was complete, in about two months, we secured the lids. Where there was air between the lid and the liquid, we placed a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the liquid, to keep the liquid from forming a gel and hardening.  References Kakishibu Craft. Terada Masamichi. Kodamasha Publishers. (in Japanese only) Shibori, The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dying. Yoshiko Wada, Mary Kellogg Rice, and Jane Barton. Kodansha International. 1983. ISBN 0870115596.  Source for Kakishibu Liquid and Powder Iwamoto Kametaro Shoten9 Mukaijima Ishidera, Wazuka-choSoraku-gun, Kyoto fu, Japan telephone: 0774 78 2048fax: 0774 78 3165