A selection of wagashi to be served during a Japanese tea ceremony.

Peach-shaped seioubos

Wagashi (Japanese: 和菓子) is a general term for traditional Japanese confectionery, especially the types made of mochi, red bean paste, and fruits that are served in the Japanese tea ceremony. Wagashi is typically made from all natural, plant based ingredients. The names used for wagashi commonly fit a formula—a natural beauty and a word from ancient literature. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1536x1000, 1043 KB) Summary Description: Wagashi from a Japanese tea ceremony. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1536x1000, 1043 KB) Summary Description: Wagashi from a Japanese tea ceremony. ... A woman wearing a kimono performs a tea ceremony outdoors, while seated in seiza position. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1092x819, 337 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Wagashi Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1092x819, 337 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Wagashi Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Binomial name Prunus persica (L.) Batsch Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. ... A selection of confections The term confectionery refers to food items that are (at least perceived to be) rich in sugar. ... Rice Cake Pounding mochi in an usu Making mochi with a modern piece of equipment Mochi (Japanese ; Taiwanese môa-chî) is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape. ... Red bean paste (Chinese: or ; Pinyin: Hóngdòushā; Hokkien: angtaosa) or azuki bean paste (Japanese: an ), anko ), ogura )) is a sweet, dark purplish-red paste used in Chinese cuisine, Japanese confectionery and Korean cuisine. ... Fruit stall in Barcelona, Spain. ... A woman wearing a kimono performs a tea ceremony outdoors, while seated in seiza position. ...

The origin of Wagashi is unclear, but they may have existed for as long as people have lived in Japan. In an excavation of a Jomon-era archeological site, the carbonized remains of what appeared to be baked cookies made from chestnut powder were discovered. The Jomon period (Japanese: 縄文時代 Jōmon-jidai) is the time in Japanese history from about 10,000 BCE to 300 BCE. Most scholars agree that by around 40,000 BCE glaciation had connected the islands with the mainland. ...

Until sugar was introduced in 16th century, wagashi was sweetened with mizuame, suikazura, and fresh and dried fruits. Diaries and records from these and earlier times write about how treasured dried fruits like persimmons and wild raisins were. Even today, it is well known that the key level of sweetness wagashi must strive for is that of a dried persimmon fruit. Magnification of typical sugar showing monoclinic hemihedral crystal stucture. ... Mizuame (水飴) is a sweetener from Japan. ... Suikazura (スイカズラ) is the Japanese name of a perennial vine, known in English as wild honeysuckle or woodbine. ... Species (kaki persimmon) (black sapote) (velvet apple) (date plum) (Texas persimmon) (American persimmon) Persimmon most commonly refers to the edible fruit borne by some species of the genus Diospyros. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ...

During the Edo period, the production of sugarcane in Okinawa became highly productive, and low quality brown sugar as well as heavily processed white sugar became widely available. A type of sugar, Wasanbon was perfected in this era and is still used exclusively to make wagashi. Wagashi was a popular gift between samurai, in significance much like a good wine. Wagashi is served as part of a Japanese tea ceremony, and serving a good seasonal wagashi shows one's educational background. The following text needs to be harmonized with text in the article History of Japan#Edo Period. ... Species Saccharum arundinaceum Saccharum bengalense Saccharum edule Saccharum officinarum Saccharum procerum Saccharum ravennae Saccharum robustum Saccharum sinense Saccharum spontaneum Sugarcane or Sugar cane (Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation) of tall grasses (family Poaceae, tribe Andropogoneae), native to warm temperate to tropical regions... This article is about the prefecture. ... Japanese samurai in armour, 1860s. ... Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of the juice of fruits, usually grapes. ... A woman wearing a kimono performs a tea ceremony outdoors, while seated in seiza position. ...

Types of Wagashi

• Anmitsu
• Amanatto
• Arare
• Daifuku
• Dango
• Hanabiramochi
• Higashi
• Imagawayaki / Kaitenyaki
• Kusa mochi
• Kuri kinton
• Manju
• Matsunoyuki
• Monaka
• Namagashi
• Oshiruko
• sakuramochi
• senbei
• Taiyaki
• Uiro
• Yakigashi
• Yatsuhashi
• Yokan
• Zenzai

Anmitsu (あんみつ) is a traditional Japanese dessert popular for many centuries. ... Amanattō (甘納豆) is a Japanese confectionery, made of azuki beans or other beans boiled with sugar. ... Arare (あられ, pronounced a·ra·re, lit. ... Daifuku (大福) is a soft rice cake stuffed with sweet filling, for example an - a sweetened bean jam. ... Dango ) is a Japanese dumpling made from mochiko (rice flour), related to mochi. ... Hanabiramochi is a Japanese sweetmeat (wagashi), usually eaten at the beginning of the year. ... Higashi (干菓子 or 乾菓子, dried snack), is a type of wagashi made from ingredients like flour (wheat, azuki bean, soybean), mizuame, and sugar (wasabon). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into mochi. ... Manju (Japanese: 饅頭, manjÅ«) is a famous, popular, and traditional Japanese confection. ... Matsunoyuki is a Japanese sweet made by sprinkling grinded caramelo (foam candy) on to a dark green Gyuuhi (Turkish delight) in the shape of a pine tree. ... Monaka (Japanese 最中) is a Japanese snack food made of azuki bean filling sandwiched between two thin crisp wafers made from sticky rice. ... Namagashi are a type of wagashi Categories: Food and drink stubs | Japanese cuisine ... Oshiruko(お汁粉), or shiruko (汁粉) is a traditional Japanese dessert. ... Senbei is a Japanese cracker inserted with a note. ... Taiyaki (鯛焼き) is a Japanese waffle-like cake traditionally filled with sweet azuki bean paste (although it can be filled with other things such as sweet custard), fried and molded into the shape of a fish; as Tai means sea bream in Japanese. ... Uirō (外郎) is a traditional Japanese steamed cake made of rice flour and sugar. ... Raw yatsuhashi Yatsuhashi (八ツ橋 or å…«æ©‹) is a Japanese kind of confectionary, a form of miyagegashi (sweet sold mainly as a souvenir) only sold in Kyoto. ... Yōkan ) is a thick jellied dessert made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar. ...

Wagashi in fiction

• NHK aired a morning drama series called Asuka. The overall theme of the series is wagashi.

NHK (日本放送協会, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai), or the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, is Japans public broadcaster. ... Asadora drama (朝ドラ, where 朝 means morning, and ドラ means drama) is the name NHK gives to the morning serialized television series it broadcasts in Japan. ...

See also

• dim sum
• List of Japanese snack food

Dim sum (Chinese: 點心; Cantonese IPA: dɪm2sɐm1; Pinyin: diǎnxīn; Wade-Giles: tien-hsin; literally dot heart or order heart, meaning order to ones hearts content; also commonly translated as touch the heart, dotted heart, or snack), a Cantonese term... This is a list of Japanese snack foods (Japanese: お菓子, okashi). ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Wagashi

• Toraya - An old wagashi maker dating back to late 16th century.