Wagashi
Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Italic title Template:Infobox food
Template:Nihongo is traditional Japanese confectionery, typically made using plant-based ingredients and with an emphasis on seasonality. Wagashi generally makes use of cooking methods that pre-date Western influence in Japan. It is often served with green tea.
Most of today's wagashi was born during the Edo period (1603–1868). This was a period of peace, economic and cultural prosperity, and increased domestic self-sufficiency in sugar.<ref name="maff">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="ndl1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="jwa1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the Edo period, a type of wagashi called Template:Nihongo3 were made by kneading white bean paste, gyūhi, sugar, yams, and other ingredients, and formed into various colors and shapes based on seasonal flowers, animals, nature, events, customs, and other themes.<ref name="maff"/><ref name="nerikiri">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DefinitionEdit
In Japan, the word for sweets or confectionery, Template:Nihongo, originally referred to fruits and nuts.<ref name="essence">Template:Cite book</ref> Fruits and nuts may be eaten as snacks between meals and served as "sweets" during a tea ceremony.<ref name="oxford companion"/> The word Wa means "Japanese", and kashi becomes gashi in compound words, wagashi therefore means "Japanese confectionery".<ref name="oxford companion">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1603, the first year of the Edo period (1603–1868), the term Template:Nihongo meant both confectionery and fruit, and was more commonly used to refer to fruit. For example, the Japanese-Portuguese dictionary of the time describes "quaxi" (菓子) as "fruit, especially fruit eaten after a meal." The term Template:Nihongo3, which is used to refer to fruit today, is a remnant of the same term.<ref name="ndl1"/>
The word wagashi was coined at the end of 1800s to distinguish Japanese confectionery from sweets, cakes and baked goods introduced from the West termed yōgashi (洋菓子). However, wagashi was not the common term for Japanese confectionery until after the Second World War.<ref name="oxford companion"/>
The definition of wagashi is ambiguous, and the line between wagashi and other types of Japanese confectionery is vague. For example, although the original Template:Nihongo3 was introduced from Portugal, it has been around for more than 400 years and has been modified to suit Japanese tastes, so it is classified as a wagashi.<ref name="jwa2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="ndl1"/><ref name="jwa1"/> Template:Nihongo3, created in 2014, was developed by a wagashi shop as a derivative of Template:Nihongo3 and is recognized as a wagashi in Japan.<ref name="mynavi"/><ref name="rocket"/> In recent years, wagashi shops have developed and marketed many confections that are an eclectic mix of wagashi and Western confections, often referred to as "neo-wagashi".<ref name="nikkei270423">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
Before the Edo periodEdit
Jomon - Nara periodEdit
It is believed that the first food eaten as a confection in Japan was a processed food from the Jomon period.<ref name="maff"/> It is thought to have been either a food made by kneading chestnuts into a powder and then baking and hardening it with eggs and salt, or a food made by adding animal flesh to chestnut flour and baking and hardening it.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
During the Yayoi period, Template:Nihongo3 were made from grain or rice flour.<ref name="maff"/>
During the Nara period (710–794), a food called Template:Nihongo3 was brought to Japan from the Tang dynasty. This food consisted mostly of powdered kneaded rice, wheat, soybeans, and azuki beans, seasoned with sweet miso paste, and fried in oil as the main ingredient. It was prized as a ritual food in various forms, but later fell into disuse in Japan and is now used as an offering to the Buddha in modern Buddhism.<ref name="ndl1"/><ref name="jwa1"/> Sugar was introduced to Japan around 750, but it was not until 850 years later, around the Edo period, that sugar-based wagashi began to be widely produced.<ref name="jwa1"/>
Heian - Muromachi periodEdit
The first beautifully crafted confections were created in the Heian period (794–1185) and are mentioned in The Tale of Genji under the names Template:Nihongo3 and Template:Nihongo3.<ref name="maff"/> Tsubakimochi was originally a confection that was not fried in oil, which was unusual among karakudamono, but it was later changed to suit the tastes of the Japanese people.<ref name="ndl1"/> In the beginning, it was a mochi made by coating rice flour with a sweetener made from the juice of boiled vine grass and wrapping it in camellia leaves. Later, the sweetener made from the juice of boiled vine grass was replaced by sugar, and the rice cake was filled with red bean paste. Confectionery of this period was food offered to the nobility.<ref name="maff"/>
During the Kamakura period (1185–1333), Japanese Buddhist monks who studied in the Song dynasty brought the tea culture to Japan, and the custom of eating confections with tea began in Japan. The monks also introduced Template:Nihongo3, a light meal, and the history book Template:Nihongo3 mentions Template:Nihongo3, Template:Nihongo3, and Template:Nihongo3 as Template:Nihongo3. However, the manjū and yōkan brought to Japan by the monks were not sweets as we know them today, but were prepared in a completely different way.<ref name="ndl1"/> At that time, manjū was not confection, did not contain red bean paste, and were not sweet. The history book Template:Nihongo3 clearly describes manjū as a dish eaten with chopsticks along with soup and pickles. Later, manjū changed from a light meal to a confection to suit Japanese tastes. In the Muromachi period (1336–1573), Template:Nihongo3 depicted sweet manjū made with sugar. This manjū is considered the prototype of today's manjū.<ref name="ndl1"/> Yōkan was a soup containing sheep meat, but since there was no custom of eating animal meat in Japan, the Japanese replaced the meat with a paste made of kneaded barley or azuki bean flour. Later, the soup was removed and replaced with a pasty confection made of barley or azuki bean flour. Finally, around 1800, during the Edo period (1603–1868), 500 years later, yōkan became what it is today. The invention of Template:Nihongo3 in the 1600s was essential to the birth of modern yokan. Later, the kanten invented in Japan was introduced to Manchuria, Korea and Taiwan.<ref name="jwa1"/><ref name="kaiun">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The udon was also very different from today's udon, more like wonton. (餛飩).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periodEdit
During the Sengoku period, the Portuguese brought Western confectionery to Japan through the Nanban trade. Template:Nihongo3 is a typical confection based on these Western confections. Kasutera was the only exception because it was made from chicken eggs, while Japanese confectionery was made from vegetable ingredients.<ref name="ndl1"/><ref name="jwa1"/> To suit their own tastes, the Japanese added Template:Nihongo3 to the sponge cake to make it more moist, and Template:Nihongo3, was added to the bottom of the sponge cake to give it a coarser texture.<ref name="nagasaki">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As trade increased, so did sugar imports. The prototype of Template:Nihongo3 was also brought to Japan through trade with Portugal and Spain.<ref name="jwa1"/> While Kompeitō, introduced from Portugal, was a sugar-coated confection with a poppy seed or sesame seed center, the Japanese eventually transformed it into an all-sugar confection with a Template:Nihongo3 center.<ref name="alic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
From the Sengoku period to the Azuchi-Momoyama period, wagashi developed along with the Japanese tea ceremony, and delicate, beautiful, and aesthetically pleasing confections began to emerge. The Japanese tea ceremony was used as a secret meeting place for Template:Nihongo3 and as a salon for the upper class.<ref name="maff"/>
Emergence of modern wagashiEdit
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During the Edo period, wagashi developed dramatically, establishing what we know today as wagashi.<ref name="maff"/><ref name="jwa1"/> From the Keicho (1596–1615) to the Kan'ei era (1624–1644), classical Japanese literature and seasonal elegance began to be incorporated into wagashi brand names. During the Genroku era (1688–1704), when the Genroku culture flourished, wagashi with beautiful shapes and colors based on themes from classical literature and seasonal elegance began to be produced under the influence of the Rimpa school of art.<ref name="ndl1"/>
Self-sufficiency in sugar increased when Tokugawa Yoshimune, the eighth Tokugawa shogun, encouraged the production of sugar.<ref name="maff"/> In Sanuki Province, which is now Kagawa Prefecture, sugar called Template:Nihongo3 was produced.<ref name="ndl1"/> The common people began to eat wagashi that used a lot of sugar, and various types of wagashi were produced, especially in Kyoto. Local wagashi specialties began to be produced in various regions of Japan, and a wagashi culture blossomed throughout the country. The design of Template:Nihongo3, a beautiful fresh confection with various shapes and colors that characterizes wagashi, was created and developed in Kyoto during this period and spread to all parts of Japan. The brand names and designs of these uniquely Japanese wagashi were compiled and recorded in picture books. The most famous of these is Template:Nihongo3, which lists the brand names and designs of wagashi from each period of the Edo period in color illustrations.<ref name="maff"/><ref name="ndl1"/>
The famous Kyoto wagashi Template:Nihongo3 was created in 1689 during the Genroku era (1688–1704) or in 1805 during the Bunka era (1804–1818). The name Yatsuhashi comes from a scene in the Tale of Ise or from the musician Yatsuhashi Kengyo, and is made by steaming a mixture of rice flour, sugar, and cinnamon, stretching the dough thin, and baking it.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Yatsuhashi is still a popular souvenir today, and according to a survey conducted by the city of Kyoto in 2022, 89.2% of Japanese tourists visiting Kyoto bought souvenirs, of which 10.7% bought Yatsuhashi.<ref name="kyoto24">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Ame and amezaikuEdit
During this time, Template:Nihongo3 became popular with the common people. The ingredients of common people's sweets were often inexpensive grain-derived sweeteners rather than expensive sugar.<ref name="ndl1"/> Ame was so popular that many people came up with creative ways to sell it. Peddlers sold ame by performing various tricks while walking the streets of the city, displaying Template:Nihongo3 puppet (traditional Japanese mechanized puppets), and dressing up as women. In the Kan'ei era (1624–1644), peddlers began selling a variety of wagashi to the general public in addition to ame.<ref name="ndl1"/>
The production of Template:Nihongo3, elaborate animal-shaped amezaiku, spread throughout the city beyond the previous temples along with the development of Template:Nihongo3.<ref name=about_kyoto>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The traditional Japanese scissors were indispensable for the production of amezaiku, and when the production of iron increased dramatically with the invention of the balance bellows in Template:Nihongo3 iron manufacturing (たたら製鉄), the production of scissors also increased, contributing to the production of amezaiku. During the Bunka (1804–1818) and Bunsei era (1818–1830), it was possible to obtain amezaiku with the same shape as today's amezaiku.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Japan's modernization and beyondEdit
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During the Meiji era (1868–1912), when Japan began active trade with the West after the end of its Template:Nihongo3, Western cooking utensils were brought to Japan. With the advent of the modern oven, many baked confections such as Template:Nihongo3 and Template:Nihongo3 were born.<ref name="jwa1"/>
In the 21st century, wagashi continues to be created. Template:Nihongo3, created in 1960,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is a very popular souvenir of Kyoto. According to a survey conducted by the City of Kyoto in 2022, 89.2% of Japanese tourists who visited Kyoto bought souvenirs, of which 31.6% bought Nama yatsuhashi. This means that 42.3% of Japanese tourists who bought souvenirs in Kyoto in 2022 bought either Nama yatsuhashi or Yatsuhashi.<ref name="kyoto24"/>
In 2014, a wagashi shop in Yamanashi Prefecture created a Template:Nihongo3 from Template:Nihongo3 and water. The popularity of this wagashi has spread outside of Japan, and derivative products have been created.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="mynavi">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="rocket">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
TypesEdit
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- Akumaki: one of the confections of Kagoshima Prefecture
- Anmitsu: chilled agar jelly cubes (kanten) served with sweet red bean paste and fruit
- Amanattō: simmered azuki beans or other beans with sugar, and dried—amanattō and nattō are not related, although the names are similar.
- Botamochi: a sweet rice ball wrapped with anko (or an, thick azuki bean paste)
- Daifuku: general term for mochi (pounded sweet rice) stuffed with anko
- Dango: a small, sticky, sweet Japanese dumpling, commonly skewered on a stick
- Domyoji: wagashi made with anko (red beans) wrapped in sticky rice
- Dorayaki: a round, flat sweet consisting of castella wrapped around anko
- Gokabou: a sweetened cake made of rice and mixed with sugar
- Hanabiramochi: a flat, red and white, sweet mochi wrapped around anko and a strip of candied gobo (burdock), shaped like a flower petal
- Ikinari dango: a steamed bun with a chunk of sweet potato and anko in the center, it is a local confectionery in Kumamoto.
- Imagawayaki (also kaitenyaki): anko surrounded in a disc of fried dough covering
- Kompeito: crystal sugar candy
- Kusa mochi: "grass" mochi, a sweet mochi infused with Japanese mugwort (yomogi), surrounding a center of anko
- Kuzumochi
- Kuri kinton: a sweetened mixture of boiled and mashed chestnuts
- Manjū: steamed cakes of an surrounded by a flour mixture, available in many shapes such as peaches, rabbits, and matsutake (松茸) mushrooms
- Mochi: a rice cake made of glutinous rice
- Monaka: a center of anko sandwiched between two delicate and crispy sweet rice crackers
- Oshiruko (also zenzai): a hot dessert made from anko in a liquid, soup form, with small mochi floating in it
- Rakugan: a small, very solid and sweet cake which is made of rice flour and mizuame
- Sakuramochi: a rice cake filled with anko and wrapped in a pickled cherry leaf
- Taiyaki: like a imagawayaki, a core of anko surrounded by a fried dough covering, but shaped like a fish
- Uirō: a steamed cake made of rice flour and sugar, similar to mochi
- Warabimochi: traditionally made from warabi and served with kinako and kuromitsu
- Yatsuhashi: thin sheets of gyūhi (sweetened mochi), available in different flavors, like cinnamon, and occasionally folded in a triangle around a ball of red anko
- Yōkan: one of the oldest wagashi, a solid block of anko, hardened with agar and additional sugar
- Yubeshi
ClassificationEdit
There are several ways to classify wagashi, including classification by moisture content, ingredients, and production method. The most common classification method is based on moisture content, which is very important because it affects shelf life. According to this classification, sweets with a moisture content of 30% or more are classified as Template:Nihongo3, those with a moisture content of 10% to 30% are classified as Template:Nihongo3, and those with a moisture content of less than 10% are classified as Template:Nihongo3.<ref name="jwa2"/><ref name="han030422">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
When classified by production method, each type of wagashi is classified as neri mono, which is made by kneading ingredients; mushi mono, which is made by steaming; yaki mono, which is made by baking; age mono, which is made by frying; nagashi mono, which is made by pouring ingredients into a mold; uchi mono, which is made by mixing powdered ingredients and sugar into a mold and then hardening the mixture; kake mono, which is made by pouring syrup over the ingredients; and ame mono, which is made by boiling down the sugar and hardening it, and so on.<ref name="jwa2"/><ref name="han030422"/>
For example, yōkan can be classified as either Template:Nihongo3 or Template:Nihongo3, depending on the product, as the moisture content varies from product to product. It is also classified as nagashi mono because it is made by pouring Template:Nihongo3 into a mold and hardening it.<ref name="jwa2"/><ref name="han030422"/>
- Template:Nihongo (wet confectionery)—contains 30% or more moisture
- Template:Nihongo is a very soft and delicate, seasonally varying namagashi, in various, often elaborate, shapes and colors, often reflecting seasonal plants. Some stores will have many dozens over the course of a year.<ref>Japanese Confectionery Gratifies the Eyes and the Palate Template:Webarchive Aichi Voice Issue 7, 1997</ref>
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo (steamed confectionery)
- Template:Nihongo (baked confectionery)
- Template:Nihongo(Flat pan baked confectionery)
- Template:Nihongo (oven baked confectionery)
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo (fried confectionery)
- Template:Nihongo (half-wet confectionery)—contains 10%–30% moisture
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo (baked confectionery)
- Template:Nihongo(Flat pan baked confectionery)
- Template:Nihongo (oven baked confectionery)
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo (dry confectionery)—contains 10% or less moisture
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo (baked confectionery)
- Template:Nihongo (candy confectionery)
See alsoEdit
- Chinese desserts – Chinese confections
- Hangwa – Korean confections
- Bánh – Vietnamese sweet or savoury snacks and confections
- Turkish delight – Turkish confections
- List of Japanese desserts and sweets
- List of Japanese snacks