Sakuramochi

Sakuramochi is a traditional dessert that is made to depict sakura (cherry blossom), so the rice cake is usually pink in color. Most of the times, sakuramochi contains red bean paste and it is covered with a salty cherry blossom leaf, which some people consume together with the rice cake, and some don't. Although the sweet treat is sold throughout the year, it can be found most easily in spring, when cherry blossoms are in season. It is believed that sakuramochi was invented in 1717 in Edo by a guard named Yamamoto Shinroku, using the leaves from the trees along the Sumida River. He started to sell his new treats; people loved them, and that is how sakuramochi was born. Today, there are two versions of sakuramochi, the domyouji mochi from Kansai, consisting of steamed rice filled with anko and wrapped with a leaf, and the chomeiji mochi from Kanto, made with a pink crepe instead of rice.