Kibi Dango (Okayama)

A , is a type of wagashi sweet or snack with an eponymous reference to Kibi-no-kuni, an old province roughly coincident with today's Okayama Prefecture. It is made by forming gyūhi, a sort of soft mochi, into flat round cakes.Shinmura (1991), ''Kojien'' dictionary Glutinous rice, starch, syrup and sugar are the basic ingredients. It is manufactured by some fifteen confectioners based in Okayama City. While perhaps originally made from (proso millet), the modern recipe uses little or no millet, reports that as of its writing "more than fifteen companies in Okayama City have been producing kibi-dango, some of which do not contain millet". Sangetsudō also once advertised that its formula did not use any millet. (See below). and substantively differs from of yore, famous from the Japanese heroic folk tale of Momotarō or "Peach Boy"; nevertheless, "Kibi dango" continues to be represented as being the same as the folk hero Peach Boy's dumpling.

The simplistic, and widely disseminated notion regarding its invention is that it was developed in the early Ansei era (ca. 1856) by the confectioner Kōeidō, but a local historian has traced a more elaborate multi-phased history in which the founding of this wagashi shop and the development of the modern recipe is pushed to a number of years later. Some hypotheses trace its pre-history to the dumpling (or some other food item) served at the Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama.

The resident deity of this shrine, Kibitsuhiko, is a legendary ogre-slayer, claimed to be the true identity of Momotarō, especially by Okayama locals. The theory originated in the 1930s, and since then there has been concerted effort in the region to promote the folk hero Momotarō as a local of Kibi Province, and his dumplings as "Kibi dango" by default.

Origins

There are irreconcilably differing accounts of the dates and sequences of events regarding the invention. The standard curt explanation is that this specialty dessert was first invented by the confectioner during the early Ansei era (1854–). This purveyor later split into two brands, and which remain to this day. Takeda is the family name of the original business. The current proprietors give a more complex account of the first origins, but local historians uncovered an even more convoluted history.

Family's own account

The official line version, endorsed by the Kōeidō Honten, is that the family ran a ceramics merchant named "" for 7 generations running, until it switched business to that of a confectioner in 1856, changing the shop name to "Kōeidō". According to this scenario, around 1856,The specified year shifts slightly according to source. Shida () states that according to information given him by Kōeidō, the confection was created around 1853 (Kaei 6) and dubbed "Kibi dango" around 1855 (Ansei 2). Takeda Hanzō (半蔵), the retired predecessor of the family ceramics shop, was one of the three Okayama townsmen who collectively devised the new recipe that was somehow an improvement over the steamed millet dumpling "rectangularly shaped like kakimochi, which did not keep well, and was eaten with red bean paste or with sauce poured on top," which was a common staple wherever the crop was harvested.

Wagashi references books

Contrary to this, a handful of desk references place "Kōeidō" already in existence at the time of c. 1856 invention, crediting the shop's first proprietor Takeda Asajirō () rather than the elder Hanzō for the recipe. These sources claim that the tea ceremony connoisseur named , who was then senior advisor (karō) to the feudal lord of the local Okayama Castle (Ikeda clan), gave Asajirō crucial advise leading to the recipe innovation, and that the millet dumplings served at Kibitsu Shrine inspired hint.

But the time frame seems to be wrong. Asajirō himself wrote that during his watch, the kibi dango changed shape from the rectangular to round shapes, and this happened sometimes after the Meiji Era was ushered in (1868-). The tea ceremony expert in question, referred to in these sources as only called himself by this art name in his retirement, from 1869 to his death in 1886.

Detailed account by local historians

More meticulous accounts of what transpired, uncovered by the labors of local historians, suggest that indeed, several years passed between 1856 and the time Asajirō became successor to this business, changing the recipe.

A detailed chronology was stitched together by local historian Oka Chōhei based on articles in print and additionally conducted interviews, is as follows:; reprinted as

In the year 1855 (Ansei 2) three commoners from the town around Okayama Castle (now Okayama City) collaborated and devised a reddish rectangular confection rather like kakimochi as accompaniment to serving tea. Among the three was , resident of Furugyōchō and Karatsu ware peddling agent fronting for the samurai clan (). This old man Hanryo was the grandfather , and a member of the Takeda family who later founded Kōeidō. This snack was for pastime purposes only and not meant for business, but since leaving it nameless did not seem fitting, they pondered until they struck up the idea of borrowing the province name and calling it , something of a nonce word. This much is given in an article by a Meiji era popular culture researcher, entitled .

Although this dessert was initially only distributed among friends and family, it was eventually offered for sale and gained popularity. Takeda Hanzō (died in 1901 at age 81) then outfitted a shop named after his own art name, and had his mistress sell the Kibi-dan-go. Although Oka also heard dissenting reports that this Kibi-dan-go was millet dumpling with a "rather long thin thread of red bean paste poured over it," he was skeptical, and concluded it was in fact "probably kakimochi". After Hanzō's mistress died, the Sōkandō business was passed over to Hanzō's relative Takeda Asajirō, the founder of Kōeidō.

It was not until Takeda Asajirō's takeover that the merchandise became the present-day soft gyūhi product packed in boxes, according to the memory of Nishio Kichitaro, founder of the , for many years the only newspaper of the area. Asajirō's own book too states that it was only after the Meiji Restoration (1867-) that his product changed from the rectangular items of the past to the round cakes the size of two go stones, sold in boxed in sets of 30 or 50.

In 1885 (Meiji 18) Kōeidō's Kibi dango was presented to Emperor Meiji who was visiting the area, and he wrote a waka poem praising it, which translated to "Kibi dango such that no two such exists in Japan / Indeed such is the taste and it has earned its name, this". The sellers subsequently began to enclose leaflets with this poem printed inside its boxes.

Pre-history relating to Kibitsu Shrine

There are a number of sources attempting to trace the pre-history of the Kibi dango to some food, or custom, or legend associated with Okayama's Kibitsu Shrine, though each line of inquiry differs from one another.

As aforestated, there had been a piece of anecdote or rumor (perhaps collected in the Meiji era), claiming that the Kibi dango recipe was created on suggestion of former feudal advisor Igi San'ensai, and that he used the millet dumplings served at Kibitsu Shrine as hint.

The founder of Kōeido (the purveyors of Kibi dango) authored a travel guide in 1895, in which he claimed that Kibitsuhiko rolled with his own hand some kibi dango to give to Emperor Jimmu

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