Wagashi

Wagashi refers to traditional Japanese sweets, usually crafted from plant-based ingredients and designed to reflect the changing seasons. The preparation techniques used in wagashi largely predate Western influence in Japan, and these confections are commonly enjoyed alongside green tea.

Definition

The term "wagashi" itself combines wa (meaning Japanese) and kashi (meaning sweets or confectionery). Originally, kashi referred to fruits and nuts, which were eaten as snacks or served as sweets during tea ceremonies. In 1603, at the start of the Edo period, the word for confectionery also meant fruit, and was more often used for fruit. A Japanese-Portuguese dictionary from that time describes "quaxi" as fruit, especially fruit eaten after a meal.

The modern Japanese word for fruit, kudamono, is a remnant of this usage. The term "wagashi" was coined in the late 1800s to distinguish Japanese confections from Western-style sweets, cakes, and baked goods, which were called yōgashi. However, wagashi did not become the common term for Japanese confectionery until after World War II.

The definition of wagashi is not strict, and the line between wagashi and other Japanese sweets is blurry. For example, kasutera, originally introduced from Portugal, has been adapted to Japanese tastes over more than 400 years and is now classified as wagashi. A confection created in 2014, developed by a wagashi shop as a derivative of an earlier sweet, is also recognized as wagashi in Japan. In recent years, some wagashi shops have created mixed confections that blend wagashi with Western sweets, often called "neo-wagashi."

Most wagashi eaten today originated during the Edo period (1603–1868), a time of peace, economic and cultural growth, and increased domestic sugar production. During this era, a type of wagashi was made by kneading white bean paste, gyūhi (a soft rice cake), sugar, yams, and other ingredients, then shaping them into various colors and forms based on seasonal flowers, animals, nature, events, customs, and other themes.

Before the Edo period

Before the Edo period, the first food eaten as a confection in Japan likely dates to the Jomon period. It may have been a food made by kneading chestnut powder with eggs and salt, then baking and hardening it, or a mixture of chestnut flour and animal flesh, baked and hardened. In the Yayoi period, sweets were made from grain or rice flour. During the Nara period (710–794), a food called karakudamono was brought from Tang dynasty China.

It was made from powdered kneaded rice, wheat, soybeans, and azuki beans, seasoned with sweet miso paste, and fried in oil. It was used as a ritual food but later fell out of common use, though it remains as an offering in modern Buddhism. Sugar was introduced to Japan around 750, but sugar-based wagashi did not become widespread until the Edo period, about 850 years later.

In the Heian period (794–1185), beautifully crafted confections appeared, mentioned in The Tale of Genji as tsubakimochi and another type. Tsubakimochi was originally not fried in oil, unlike most karakudamono, and was later adapted to Japanese tastes.

It began as a mochi made from rice flour coated with a sweetener from boiled vine grass juice, wrapped in camellia leaves. Eventually, the sweetener was replaced with sugar, and the mochi was filled with red bean paste. These confections were offered to the nobility.

During the Kamakura period (1185–1333), Japanese Buddhist monks who studied in Song dynasty China brought tea culture to Japan, along with the custom of eating confections with tea. The monks also introduced a light meal called shōjin ryōri. Historical records mention manjū, yōkan, and another item as part of this meal. However, these early versions were not sweets as known today.

Manjū at that time was not a confection, contained no red bean paste, and was not sweet; it was eaten with chopsticks alongside soup and pickles. Later, in the Muromachi period (1336–1573), sweet manjū made with sugar appeared, considered the prototype of modern manjū. Yōkan was originally a mutton soup, but because Japan had no custom of eating animal meat, the mutton was replaced with a paste of kneaded barley or azuki bean flour. The soup was eventually removed, and yōkan became a pasty confection.

Around 1800, during the Edo period, about 500 years after its introduction, yōkan took its modern form. The invention of kanten (agar) in the 1600s was essential to this development. Later, kanten was introduced to Manchuria, Korea, and Taiwan. Udon at that time was also very different from today, resembling wonton more than noodles.

During the Sengoku period, the Portuguese brought Western confections to Japan through the Nanban trade. Kasutera is a typical example based on these imports, and it was the only exception among early wagashi because it was made with chicken eggs.