is a symbolic Japanese sweet associated with the

Hinamatsuri , also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day, is a religious (Shinto) holiday in Japan, celebrated on 3March of each year. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005)"Hina Matsuri"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 313. Platforms covered with a red carpet–mater ...

"Girl's Day" festival, which coincides with the calendar date for Xiuxi (上巳). The sweet is diamond shapes and typically formed from three layers of red (pink), white, and green

mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally ma ...

, from top to bottom. Depending on region, yellow may be substituted for red, or the sweet may have 5 or 7 layers instead. It is usually presented with hina dolls. The shape is believed to have originated in the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

, and to be a representation of fertility.

Colors

The red of the mochi are derived from fruits of '' Gardenia jasminoides'' (山梔子), and is symbolic of peach flowers. The white is made from the

water caltrop The water caltrop is any of three extant species of the genus ''Trapa'': ''Trapa natans'', ''Trapa bicornis'' and the endangered ''Trapa rossica''. It is also known as buffalo nut, bat nut, devil pod, ling gok ( Chinese: 菱角), ling nut, lin ko ...

(菱, hishi), and represents the snow and its cleansing effects. Finally, the green is from '' Gnaphalium affine'' (ハハコグサ) or

mugwort Mugwort is a common name for several species of aromatic flowering plants in the genus '' Artemisia.'' In Europe, mugwort most often refers to the species ''Artemisia vulgaris'', or common mugwort. In East Asia the species ''Artemisia argyi'' is ...

{{Cite book, last1=Kader, first1=Jean-Claude, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S8yqjc7Ml68C&dq=Hishi+mochi&pg=PA390, title=Advances in Botanical Research, last2=Delseny, first2=Michel, date=2011-12-16, publisher=Academic Press, isbn=978-0-12-385851-1, pages=390, language=en like '' kusa mochi'', and is believed to be a restorative that improves the blood.

References

Wagashi Holiday foods