is a wagashi (Japanese confection) made with

glutinous rice Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domesticated plants or domesticated animals. Domesticated animals tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterparts; they may also hav ...

, white

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

(ratio of 7:3, or only glutinous rice), and sweet

azuki ''Vigna angularis'', also known as the , azuki bean, aduki bean, red bean, or red mung bean, is an annual vine widely cultivated throughout East Asia for its small (approximately long) bean. The cultivars most familiar in East Asia have a un ...

paste (

red bean paste Red bean paste () or red bean jam, also called adzuki bean paste or ''anko'' (a Japanese word), is a paste made of red beans (also called "adzuki beans"), used in East Asian cuisine. The paste is prepared by boiling the beans, then mashing or ...

). They are made by soaking the rice for approximately 1 hour. The rice is then cooked, and a thick azuki paste is hand-packed around pre-formed balls of rice. Botamochi is eaten as

sacred food as offering Sacred food as offering is a concept within anthropology regarding the study of food as it relates to religious ritual. Many religions have prescriptions about the correct preparation and cooking of food, besides the Taboo food and drink, taboos ...

during the weeks of the spring and the autumn

Higan is a Buddhist holiday exclusively celebrated by Japanese sects for seven days; three days before and after both the Spring equinox ( shunbun) and Autumnal equinox ( shūbun). It is observed by nearly every Buddhist school in Japan. The tradi ...

in Japan. Another name for this kind of confection is , the origin and meaning of which is a subject of debate, with some saying that ohagi uses a slightly different texture of azuki paste but is otherwise almost identical. It is made in autumn and some recipe variations in both cases call for a coating of soy flour to be applied to the ohagi after the azuki paste. The two different names are, some people say, derived from the Botan (

peony The peony or paeony () is any flowering plant in the genus ''Paeonia'', the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae. Peonies are native to Asia, Europe, and Western North America. Scientists differ on the number of species that can be distinguish ...

) which blooms in the spring and the Hagi (Japanese

bush clover ''Lespedeza'' is a genus of some 45 species (including nothospecies) of flowering plants in the pea family (Fabaceae), commonly known as bush clovers or (particularly East Asian species) Japanese clovers (''hagi''). The genus is native to warm te ...

or Lespedeza) which blooms during autumn. ''Botamochi'' is the modern name for the dish ''kaimochi'' (かいもち) mentioned in the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

text ''

Uji Shūi Monogatari is a collection of Japanese tales written around the beginning of the 13th century. The author is unknown, and it may have been revised several times. The title references the '' Uji Dainagon Monogatari'', a book which no longer exists. The Dai ...

'' (宇治拾遺物語). The proverb , literally "a botamochi falls down from a shelf", means "receiving a windfall", "a lucky break". The term is also used for a specific pattern of

Bizen ware is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally from Bizen province, presently a part of Okayama prefecture. History Bizen ware was traditionally produced in and around the village of Imbe, Okayama, Imbe in Bizen province, from where it received ...

with two, three or five round marks, as if the marks of the small balls of rice cakes were left on the plate.

References

{{Reflist Wagashi

See also

References