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Article by Kaori

About the Author

Sweets are great gifts used on many occasions; weddings, funerals, and festivals. Especially bringing local sweets back as a gift for friends and colleagues is an etiquette for Japanese people. Japanese sweets do not just taste delicious, but also appeal to the eye with their work of art appearance.

Matcha, used in Japanese tea and sweets, is rich in catechins. If you don’t know what catechins are good for, it is to prevent and treat diseases, especially cancer and heart diseases, and it is used for cosmetic purposes.

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake, and warabimochi is made with starch covered with kinako (soybean powder) and served with kuromitsu (Japanese black sugar syrup). If you are interested in warabimochi, don't forget to visit our Bashodo: The Original Warabimochi article.

Also, Azuki beans are used in sweets as fillings in all seasons; Japanese people like warming with oshiruko (azuki bean soup with a mochi) in the winters, chilling with Uji Kintoki (Shaved ice with matcha tea syrup and azuki bean paste) in the summers, celebrating spring with sakuramochi (wheat dough filled with azuki bean paste and wrapped with cherry leaf), and eating kurikanoko (azuki bean paste covered with chestnuts candy) in the autumns. Yokan is also made from azuki bean and they look like jelly bars.

When we talk about sweets, we shouldn’t forget higashi (Japanese Dried Confectionery) which contains rice flour and sugar. There are even themed products sold in boxes.

Japanese sweets always look beautiful, unique, and creative, especially if it is spring. Sakura leaves, and extracts begin to be used in nearly every food, drink, and sweet variety. Probably because spring represents new beginnings for Japanese people, they love celebrating the season with sakura blossom (cherry trees) viewing parties (hanami). Sakura blossom takes time but it's one of the shortest-lived flowers, so it represents the renewal and fleeting nature of life for the Japanese. Every year the sakura blooming calendar is released because in every prefecture the sakura trees bloom at different times of the month.

It is believed that catching three petals of a sakura tree before they fall on the ground while making a wish, will help it come true. If you are lucky enough to enjoy this season with sweets and sakura, and make your one wish come true, don't forget to share with us, too.

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About the Author

Kaori A.
Youtuber/ Translator/ Blogger From Somewhere in This Universe
She is a game youtuber who is in love with Japanese culture. She has a Youtube Channel about Japanese theme games, games about learning the Japanese language, otome games, Japanese books, and anything she finds about Japan. She is also a manga and anime otaku who loves researching and exploring real-life anime locations and foods from anime.

YouTube: @ajapanophileotaku
Instagram: @otakukaori
Twitter: @OtakuKaori




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