[Sakura Mochi Leaves]

It is the season of cherry blossoms, and we will be receiving news of their blooming one after another from various places toward the end of March. This is the season when many cherry blossom-flavored sweets and beverages can be found. Among them, the eternal standard of spring sweets in Japan is probably "sakura mochi" (sakura rice cake). In haiku and other forms of poetry, sakura mochi, like sakura, is a seasonal word for spring.

The fragrant component of sakura mochi leaves and salted cherry blossoms is coumarin, an aroma that is classified as a polyphenol/phenolic acid type of antioxidant. Fresh cherry leaves have no aroma, but when the leaves and flowers are pickled in salt, an enzyme produces a component called coumarin, which gives them their distinctive aroma. Coumarin has antibacterial and anti-blood coagulation effects, and is effective in preventing swelling and aging.

Most of the salted cherry leaves used for sakura mochi come from Matsuzaki, Nishi-Izu, and are of the "Oshima cherry" variety. It is a larger leaf and has a very nice aroma. It prevents the rice cake from drying out and prevents the growth of bacteria by wrapping the rice cake in salted leaves.

The most famous sakura mochi in Tokyo is Chomeiji Sakura Mochi, which is mentioned in the rakugo story "Hanami Kozo." It was first sold in 1717, when cherry leaves from Sumida Tsutsumi were pickled in salt and the leaves were used to sandwich rice cakes filled with sweet bean paste. The year 1717 was also the year that Yoshimune Tokugawa, the 8th shogun of the Edo Shogunate, planted 100 cherry trees along the banks of the Sumida River, which, combined with the increase in the number of cherry blossom-viewing visitors, made sakura mochi a specialty of Chomeiji's gate.

This Chomeiji Sakura Mochi is wrapped in three salted leaves. It is recommended to "remove the leaves and enjoy the aroma of the cherry leaves and the flavor of the bean paste in the rice cake," but it is also said that the leaves can be removed, eaten with only one leaf attached, or eaten with all three leaves. The National Wagashi Association also recommends that the leaves be removed, saying, "You can taste the true flavor of cherry blossoms if you remove the leaves." There is a haiku by Kyoshi Takahama, a haiku poet and novelist active in the Showa period (1926-1989), which goes, "If you eat three leaves, you will have three pieces of cherry blossom cake." From this haiku, we can infer that Kyoshi ate sakura mochi with only one leaf, and that he was the type of person who does not eat the leaves of sakura mochi. Which way do you prefer?

There is another type of sakura mochi, Domyoji mochi made with Domyoji flour in Kansai style. It is different in shape and texture from the Kanto style Chomeiji mochi made with wheat flour. Both are made with pink dough, rolled with salted cherry leaves, and have a nice aroma of cherry blossoms.

Please enjoy the current cherry blossom season to the fullest. We would like to introduce some of the cherry blossom tree products we carry at Shokunin.com.

Fujiki Denshiro Shoten's Sokawa Tea Canister
https://www.shokunin.com/en/denshiro/
Sonobe Sangyo’s Meibokuwan Cherry
https://www.shokunin.com/en/sonobe/wan.html
Sonobe Sangyo’s Plate Cherry
https://www.shokunin.com/en/sonobe/plate.html
Okubo House Mokkosha's Wooden Spatula *They will be restocked around April 1st.
https://www.shokunin.com/en/okubo/hera.html

References
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/桜餅
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/クマリン
https://sakura-mochi.com/
https://weathernews.jp/s/topics/202104/050085/
https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/9923991/
https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1305740/1/1 (江戸自慢三十六興　向嶋堤ノ花并ニさくら餅 - 国立国会図書館)