Japanese Sweet for June - Minazuki to Ward Off Evil Spirits 夏越の祓い 水無月

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Minazuki, June sweets in Japan

The triangle stuff on the plate is Minazuki (水無月), Japanese sweets for June made of sweet rice cakes with sweet, semi-crushed red beans (tsubu an) on them. The three are different in taste. The white one is plain, the green one is matcha taste and the black one black sugar taste. Minazuki means June in the lunar calendar and late June to early August in the solar calendar and the Chinese characters of "水無月" means "a month (月) without (無) water (水)."  

From left: black sugar, matcha and plain

In summer long time ago, Japanese aristocrats got ice from ice rooms (himuro) and ate it to cope with the hot weather. But needless to say, that was a dream for commoners. Minazuki is shaped to look like ice and has been eaten for a long time by ordinary people who can't afford ice. The red beans are also said to ward off evil spirits.

I bought them at Sentaro (仙太郎) in Ginza Mitsukoshi. It's 227 yen a piece. They aren't gorgeous, but taste good and made me smile with their sweet flavor and mochi texture.

仙太郎で水無月を買いました。外郎に粒あんが乘っているお菓子。夏の暑さをしのぐために氷を模したとされています。そのように見えるか？は疑問ですが、季節感を味わいたくて3種類（プレーン、抹茶、黒糖）とも買いました。それぞれ風味が違い、もちもちの食感がとってもおいしかったです。日本のお菓子ってほんと地味ですね（笑）。