The day of 3rd March is the celebration day for little girls. That is called 桃の節句/Momo-no-sekku and 雛祭り/Hina-matsuri.
雛人形（Hina-dolls）is the dolls for celebrating that day. In the houses of traditional lifestyle, Hina-dolls have been decorated in many cases. Here, the traditional lifestyle of old aristocrats in Kyoto is expressed.
During this time, Hina-dolls are decorated in various public spaces. You will be able to see it when you visit Japan in February. These pictures were shot by me, in a hotel where I stayed at night.
Japanese Wagashi cakes are made, in the shops, to give a feel of the seasons. When I visited the cake shop today, I found 桜餅/Sakura-mochi. Which is made using cherry blossoms and leaves. Cherry blossoms are pink, and its leaves are light green. Very beautiful.
These blossoms are preserved for making cakes, by being salted. Here in Japan the time when cherry blossoms bloom is the end of March, hence we cannot get it still now. Namely, these blossoms are preserved from last spring. It is meaningful for us to give seasonal gifts to someone, before the season comes.
For example, this Wagashi is often eaten at the place in 茶道/Sadou. In Sadou, we try to feel spring before spring comes, by eating these cakes such as Sakura-mochi. We call this sense “粋/Iki”, namely, it is chic.
And 草餅/Kusa-mochi is very simple Wagashi. This is Wagashi where red beans are wrapped in green rice cake. The color of green is the color of mugwort, its rice cake is mixed with boiled mugwort. Sweet and delicious.
In my childhood, I often went to the riverside to take wild mugwort. With my grandfather and grandmother. Those are my joyful memories in spring.
Regarding eating and drinking, it is said Japanese males are divided into two groups. One group is called "Ama-tou(甘党)". Which means sweets lovers. When it is called sweets, that means Japanese cakes.
And another group is called "Kara-tou(辛党)". Which means alcoholic drinks lovers. In short, Japanese guys belong to either sweets lovers or alcohol lovers. Speaking of me, originally I had belonged to the group Kara-tou for a long time.
When I started to drink whisky or beer, it was at the age of 17. Since then I have continued to drink for 40 years. And at last I stopped drinking in the autumn of 2020. I don’t have a deep reason, excluding the pandemic.
Until now I didn’t think I would become a sweets lover. That is because, since my youth, I didn’t like sweets very much. However my favorite is changing now, and I am recruited little by little by the group Ama-tou now.
Speaking of Japanese sweets, it can be said Japan has two big traditional sweets. One is called "Manjyu(饅頭)", which has the roots in China. Its shell is white and made of flour. In many cases, sweet red beans are wrapped in it.
And another one is called "Daifuku(大福)". I don’t know about it in detail, but it seems that Daifuku has its origins in Japan. Its shell is white and made of rice cake. Japanese have eaten rice for a long time. Same as Manjyu, in many cases sweet red beans are wrapped in it.
There are three traditional Japanese sweets shops near my house. Recently I often visit each shop, when I am taking a walk. And I realized one time, one of the shops sells a very unique Daifuku. It is called "Coffee Daifuku"(I attached the picture here).
Coffee Daifuku has very unique contents, which are composed of coffee powder, cream and red beans. When I eat it, I feel just like drinking coffee. “It’s so delicious and it has a very good balance!” My wife said, when I bought and brought it to my house. I agreed with her.
Here in Japan, various types of Daifuku are being invented one after another now. The type of one wrapping strawberries is especially popular now. Which is called "Ichigo-Daifuku(いちご大福)". That is a surprising taste.
Japanese people are good at developing things imported abroad. For example, Ramen is so. Also Daifuku will develop more and more. And we are waiting for the new type to appear in Japan.
At last it seems that I became a member of Ama-tou group, perfectly.
