Tomorrow, October 26, is "Persimmon Day," established by the Persimmon Section of the National Fruit Tree Research Association in honor of Masaoka Shiki's famous haiku "I bite a persimmon / a bell rings— / Hōryū-ji." Yet some say the temple in the poem was actually Tōdai-ji, not Hōryū-ji.
Countless books and studies exist on Shiki, who once stayed at the First Higher School dormitory in Sotokanda Nishiki-chō, very near where Palaceside Building stands; most need not be cited here. Shiki, recuperating in his hometown Matsuyama, borrowed from his friend Natsume Sōseki to return to Tokyo and, despite illness, made the long-desired trip to Nara. He arrived on October 26, 1895 (Meiji 28). That night he stayed near Tōdai-ji, ate imperial persimmons, and heard a bell. In "On Persimmons," published in the magazine Hototogisu (March–April, Meiji 34), he wrote "On Eating Imperial Persimmons" as follows:
"After supper I asked the maid if any imperial persimmons were left; she said yes. Having eaten none in the ten years since leaving the capital, I missed them sorely and ordered a heap at once. Soon she brought a large bowl of nishiki pattern, a good foot and a half across, piled mountain-high with persimmons. Even a persimmon lover like me was startled. Then she took a kitchen knife and began peeling them for me. (Middle omitted) When they were peeled I ate; she kept peeling more. The persimmons were delicious; the place was fine. As I sat entranced, one toll of the hanging bell sounded—BON. She said, 'Oh, the first evening bell,' and went on peeling. (Middle omitted) When I asked whose bell, she said it was Tōdai-ji's great hanging bell striking the first watch of evening... (Omitted)."
Shiki visited Hōryū-ji on October 28, when it was raining—perhaps giving rise to the "Tōdai-ji" theory. The association may have chosen the 26th as Persimmon Day partly because this account is persuasive.
Yet in Shiki's autograph haiku collection Kanzan Rakuboku, vol. 4, the line "Resting at a teahouse at Hōryū-ji" appears with this poem and "Over the hedge / shriveled persimmons hang / next door." Perhaps from habit, the image of eating persimmons in this poem feels more fitting at ancient Hōryū-ji than at Tōdai-ji.