noun
Hassaku orange
A Japanese citrus fruit, similar to a grapefruit but less bitter, typically eaten fresh in winter and early spring.
はっさくは冬から春にかけて旬を迎える。
Hassaku oranges are in season from winter to spring.
このはっさくは甘くてジューシーだ。
This Hassaku orange is sweet and juicy.
noun
Refers to the first day of the eighth month in the traditional Japanese lunar calendar. Now mostly a historical or cultural reference, sometimes associated with seasonal customs.
旧暦の八朔は、現在の9月初旬にあたる。
The first day of the eighth month in the old lunar calendar falls around early September in the modern calendar.
The name 八朔 (hassaku) is said to come from the fact that the fruit was traditionally harvested around the first day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar (八朔). The exact origin of the cultivar is uncertain, but it is believed to be a chance seedling discovered in the late Edo period in present-day Hiroshima Prefecture.