From this month, I will be featuring regional sweets from each prefecture of Japan. First is Hokkaido, where ‘Imo-mochi’ (potato cakes) are a traditional snack. Made from the potatoes which grow so abundantly in the area, they are usually eaten… Read More
In Kagoshima Prefecture there is a kind of mochi containing steamed sweet potato, made by pounding with a mortar and pestle. It is known as ‘nettabo’, ‘karaimo-mochi’, ‘toshikasa’, or ‘tokkasa’; the last two names in particular are derived from a… Read More
‘Keiran’ is made from Shichinohe to Noheji, in the Shimokita district of Aomori Prefecture. It gets its name from the word for ‘hen’s egg’, because it features two egg-shaped mochi dumplings with sweet bean paste filling, floating in a broth… Read More
For the mid-autumn harvest moon festival on September 27, people in most parts of Japan make offerings of spherical ‘tsukimi dango’ dumplings, but in the Chubu region of Shizuoka Prefecture the traditional offering is ‘heso-mochi’, which have an indentation in… Read More
Kinka-mochi is a traditional sweet in Aomori and Iwate prefectures. With mochi made from wheat flour and a filling of brown sugar with sesame or walnuts, these easily-made treats are sometimes made as offerings for the festival of O-Bon. With… Read More
Chigo mochi are a kind of sweet made only by men for the Gion Festival. It is used as an offering and as a treat for the children taking part inthe festival procession. Eating them is said to help bring… Read More
‘Hangesho-mochi’ is a kind of sweet that in ancient times was made as an offering to pray for a good harvest after rice planting finished on ‘Hangesho’, the 11th day after the summer solstice. It is particularly well known in… Read More
For Childrenʼs Day, (5 May), ʻKashiwa Mochiʼ is traditionally eaten ‒ but in Hokkaido the leaf-shaped, brown-and-white, ʻBeko Mochiʼ is more common. These two-tone rice cakes are often made at home in Hokkaido and in Tohoku. They can be semi-circular… Read More
On 8 April is the festival celebrating Buddhaʼs birthday. In Kawakami, Nara Prefecture, ʻhiuchi-mochiʼ (ʻflint rice cakesʼ, so called because they are made in a shape of a flint stone used by Buddha) are made as offerings for this occasion…. Read More
