Mizuhikiso 水引草

 We’ll introduce the wagashi Mizuhikisou. You can buy it at Keigetsudo, a famous wagashi shop in Matsue.

 Mizuhikiso means Jumpseed flower in English.

Mizuhikiso (Jumpseed flower in English)

The flower is not familiar to us, but it is cute with tiny red and white flower. The wagashi is decorated to represent the flower, leaf and vine. The light violet color is so beautiful!

The texture of this wagashi is soft and smooth. There is strained red bean paste (koshi-an) inside. And the outside is slightly sticky because it is made from white bean paste, rice flour and sugar (nerikiri). This wagashi has a gentle sweetness which complements powdered green tea.

菊日和

kikubiori



wagashi, Kikubiori

Photograph of real crysanthemums

It is very cute.

  This wagashi represents an important flower in Japanese culture.　The flower's　name　is　kiku or crysanthemum.  This flower is connected with the royal family and it evokes an image of autumn.

This top flower part is made of jelly (agar). The wagashi artisan achieved a beautiful gradation of pink color.



The contents of Kikubiyori

The sound of the name makes me think of a crysanthemum　on a clear day in Autumn.

The white part at the bottom has a thin, chewy rice cake　outer layer. On the inside, there is smooth white bean paste.　

This has no fragrance or maybe a faint sweet aroma.

 It isn't very sweet either but it has a delicate sweetness to match this delicate flower.

Aki no kawa ; 秋の川

                                  
                                   Aki no kawa ;　秋の川

 I will introduce "Aki no kawa" to you.

Aki no kawa is beautiful!!!!!


I think that it represents a reflection of orange leaves in the stream.

The name "Aki no kawa" means "Stream of Autumn" in English.

It has a lovely orange gradation on the outside.

A colored leaf is very cute. This color is orange and yellow.
Thin pieces of clear and orange agar are laid on top of the wagashi to represent a stream.

This black part means a rock.
This is made by bean jam.

The texture of this wagashi is smooth inside with a chewy layer of
mochi on the outside.

This wagashi has no fragrance.

Taste of  bean jam is strong. Agar is sweet.

This wagashi is delicious!!!
Please eat, everyone!!!!!

Kurikinton

Kuri-Kinton

*Introduction

We ate one of the wagashi for autumn, Kuri-Kinton made by Keigetu-Dou in Matsue, Japan. We’ll describe it according to the five senses.

*Appearance

Its color is light brown and it looks like a chestnut.  There is a maple leaf that has a beautiful gradation, from orange to yellow on the top! 
If you look closely at the picture you can see some black areas on top of the wagashi.  This was probably done with a kitchen torch to add interest.

*Sound of the Name

This is named from a Japanese foods, Kuri-Kinton.

Let me explain differences between two Kuri-Kintons.

Kuri-Kinton（栗金団）is one of the foods in Osechi. Osechi are the traditional Japanese foods that are eaten from the first day of the new year.  Its color is gold or yellow and represents money. Kuri-Kinton is usually very sweet.

But, This wagashi, Kuri-Kinton(栗きんとん) is a different one. This Kuri-Kinton is less sweet than Kuri-Kinton（栗金団）. And its shape, like a chestnut, is made with Chakin-Shibori (squeezing in a tea napkin).

*Touch

The texture of this wagashi is moist, creamy and soft.

*Smell

This wagashi has a light chestnut aroma.

*Taste

It has a rich chestnut taste.  It has only light brown bean paste that taste like chestnuts.

This wagashi has chestnuts and sugar but it isn't so sweet.

“Soba Joyo”

This wagashi (Japanese sweet) is a manju (Steamed bun) made with buckwheat flour.

Koshian (strained sweet red bean paste) is inside the outer steamed bun made from sobako (buckwheat flour).

It has a nice buckwheat fragrance and when you eat it, you will be able to taste the mild and earthy flavor of buckwheat.

The bean paste inside isn’t very sweet, so it has a simple and delicious taste.

There are roasted buckwheat kernels on manju.

I think Soba joyo is a refined wagashi.

Saiun-Do　　～The interview from Mr.Yamaguchi～

We visited Mr. Yamaguchi who works at Saiun-Do to learn more about Japanese sweets, called “Wagashi” as part of our graduation seminar course for our university.

“Sain-Do” is a long-established wagashi shop which was founded in 1874.  It's main shop is in Matsue city, Shimane Prefecture.

We talked with him in a Japanese-style tea room on the second floor of the main shop.

After coming up the stairs, we were captivated by the many big wagashi art objects sculpted in imitation of such things as wild birds, peony, waterwheel scenery of the countryside, and the ancient Izumo Taisha Shrine. The thatched roof and flowing water of the water wheel were crafted finely in detail and it was hard to believe they were all made from sugar.

Students admire the confection sculptures

Lotus Blossoms

Japanese Red Maple

We entered the Japanese-style tea room after we finished looking around.  There we ate wagashi which we selected and matcha or powdered green tea. Mr. Yamaguchi came in after a few minutes and told various things about wagashi.  Below are images of the wagashi we selected.  We came in the summer so these seasonal wagashi were offered on the menu.

According to Mr. Yamaguchi, we can enjoy wagashi with our five senses.

1: Hearing  2:Sight  3:Sense of smell  4:Touch  5:Taste

Hearing is hearing the sound of name of the Wagashi and getting an image of the situation or particular image that the wagashi represents.

Sight is seeing the wagashi from various angles and relating it to the image.  Much care is taken to make wagashi beautiful and unique.

Sense of smell is enjoying the subtle fragrance of the wagashi.  It is subtle so that it won't interfere with the matcha that is drunk with it.

Touch is feeling the wagashi when you pick it up with your fingers or cut it into pieces.  wagashi are usually cut with a “Kuroyozi (a thick and slightly sharpened stick for eating wagashi)”.  Also, the texture or mouth-feel of the wagashi is enjoyable.

Taste is tasting the wagashi deliciously while keeping in mind the seasonal image.  Wagashi are generally not overly sweet.  However, some sweetness is important to balance the bitterness of the matcha. 

Doesn't this sound interesting!

He told us about the order to eat and drink matcha and wagashi. When we drink bitter powdered green tea after eating sweet wagashi, we don’t mind the bitterness of the matcha. It’s such a delicious combination.

Also, we understood that the climate of Japan is related to the background of wagashi. Mr. Yamaguchi told us that moist air and the four seasons which may be unusual in other areas are very important for wagashi.

High humidity is necessary to make delicious wagashi and preserve it. The four seasons are indispensable because wagashi attempt to express the beauty of nature.

In addition, we learned about Saiun-Do's efforts to promote wagashi overseas. They have held events featuring wagashi in the United States and France and they seem to be working hard to share wagashi with many people!

 But it was hard to make and preserve wagashi in those countries because of the dry local climate which didn’t match Japan's.  Also, perhaps it wasn’t easy for people there to understand the Japanese images of birds or scenery used to represent the seasons. So they seemed to have trouble appreciating wagashi. However, there are some people who said, “These are so good” and the activity was featured in the local newspapers. 

Mr. Yamaguchi said “We will continue to do our best and hope others enjoy our wagashi.” We students felt more attracted to wagashi after this visit. We thought that our appreciation  for wagashi should spread to many people (not only Japanese people but also foreign people.)

Thank you Saiun-Do for welcoming us so kindly and teaching us more about the wagashi in Matsue!

Wagashi Report -Houkibou-

                     Houkibou（伯耆坊）

Origin : This wagashi is said to be loved by Tengu (It’s a Japanese monster who has red skin and long nose) living on Daisen, the famous mountain in Tottori prefecture. It’s also said, Houkibou was made for the cerebration of Saiundou opening in Yonago city, Tottori prefecture, in 1960.

Appearance : It’s almost a circle and is shaped like a fan. It’s the Tengu’s fan, I think. It's color is brown because it’s made of azuki beans, but it has a little white on the outside because of the sugar crust.

Texture : The outside was harder than I thought, and the sugar crust made it a little crispy and crunchy. Inside, it has a Gyuhi (like a soft rice cake), so it was　soft and chewy inside.

Smell : I detected the smell of azuki, it was a sweet smell. But I didn’t notice any other smells.

I thought I couldn’t eat it without Matcha (powdered green tea), because it was so sweet. But, I liked the Gyuhi, inside it. If you like azuki, you’ll like it very much. I really recommend eating Houkibou with Matcha.