Wagashi Through the Seasons: A Sweets Calendar

Japanese confectioners change their sweets with the year, from New Year tea sweets to spring cherry-leaf mochi, chilled summer jellies and autumn moon dumplings.

Published October 19, 2026 at 1:38 PM JST | By Tokyo Paul

Quick answer: Wagashi are traditional Japanese confections that emphasize seasonality, so shops change shapes, colors and ingredients through the year. Typical examples include hanabiramochi at New Year, sakuramochi and hishi mochi in March, kashiwa mochi on May 5, chilled mizu yokan and kuzumochi in summer, and tsukimi dango and chestnut sweets in autumn.

How the wagashi calendar works

Wagashi are described as traditional Japanese confectionery, usually made from plant-based ingredients, with a strong emphasis on seasonality. That emphasis shows up in several ways: seasonal flowers and leaves as shapes, color schemes that echo the weather, and sweets tied to festivals and holidays. A confectioner may make a few of the same sweets all year, but the display case changes often.

The calendar below is a general guide, not a strict schedule. Different shops, regions and tea schools follow their own habits, and the timing of a festival or a plant's season can shift from year to year. Treat the months here as typical associations and look at the signs in shops, which often name the sweet and the season it belongs to.

Winter: New Year and the cold months

New Year is a major time for sweets. Mochi, the pounded glutinous rice cake, is a traditional New Year food, and the Wikipedia article on mochi notes that kagami mochi, two stacked rice cakes topped with a bitter orange, is placed on family altars on December 28. Many shops sell festive assortments with auspicious shapes and colors in the first days of January.

A well-known New Year wagashi is hanabiramochi. According to Wikipedia, it is usually eaten at the beginning of the year and served at the first tea ceremony of the year. It is a white mochi wrapped around a filling of sweet bean paste, with a thin strip of sweetened burdock running through the center. The sweet is a reminder that wagashi can include surprising ingredients while remaining simple in appearance. Many shops also make sweets with winter motifs such as camellias, plum buds and pine, which hint at spring before it arrives.

Spring: Hinamatsuri, cherry blossoms and Higan

March 3 is Hinamatsuri, the doll festival. Wikipedia lists hishi mochi, multicolored rice cakes placed on diamond-shaped stands near the dolls, hina arare (multicolored rice crackers), and sakuramochi among the foods of the day. Sakuramochi is pink rice cake and red bean paste wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom leaf. It exists in two main styles: a crepe-like Kanto style often called Chomeiji-mochi, and a Kansai style, called Domyoji-mochi, which is somewhat similar to ohagi.

Whether to eat the leaf is a matter of personal preference. During the spring equinox week, known as Higan, many households eat botamochi, rice and bean paste dumplings. The name is associated with the peony, botan, which blooms in spring. The autumn version of the same sweet is called ohagi, after the bush clover, hagi, which blooms in autumn. Some people say the two are essentially the same sweet.

Early summer: Children's Day and the rainy season

May 5 is Tango no sekku, Children's Day, a celebration of children's happiness and well-being. The traditional sweet is kashiwa mochi, white mochi around sweet red bean paste, wrapped in an oak leaf. The Wikipedia article explains that the oak leaf is not eaten, and that it symbolizes the prosperity of one's descendants. This is a useful contrast with sakuramochi, where eating the leaf is optional.

As the rainy season approaches, confectioners start to move toward lighter, cooler looks. Pale greens, translucent jellies and shapes suggesting hydrangeas, water or fresh leaves are typical. Hydrangea shapes are a classic example, often built from small pieces of colored bean paste. Exact dates vary by region, because the rainy season arrives at different times in different parts of Japan, so seasonal sweets in a shop window may appear a little earlier or later than a calendar suggests.

Summer: chilled and translucent sweets

When the heat arrives, wagashi turn cool and clear. Mizu yokan, a "water" version of the jellied bean sweet, is made with more water than usual. Wikipedia describes it as usually chilled and eaten in summer. The ingredients are red bean paste, agar and sugar, which makes it a light dessert despite its deep color.

Kuzumochi is another summer favorite. It is made from kudzu starch stirred over gentle heat until it turns thick and transparent, and it is usually served chilled with dark syrup and roasted soybean flour. Wikipedia notes that the transparent look has a cooling effect. Mizu manju, which Wikipedia describes as made with kudzu starch and chilled in water to a translucent, jelly-like texture, completes the trio.

Autumn: moon viewing, chestnuts and harvest

Autumn brings tsukimi, the custom of moon viewing. Wikipedia explains that it began with Heian-era aristocrats reciting poetry under the autumn moon, and that rice dumplings called tsukimi dango are eaten to honor the moon. It falls in September or October on the solar calendar. Pampas grass (susuki) is a common decoration, and chestnuts or beans are offered at a second moon viewing about a month later, which is why that thirteenth-night moon is sometimes called the chestnut moon or bean moon.

Chestnuts and sweet potatoes are also used in baked and steamed sweets. Wikipedia's article on manju lists kuri manju, a baked sweet with chestnut, among its varieties. In autumn, the Higan sweet is called ohagi, and shop displays often use maple leaves, ginkgo leaves and chrysanthemums as design motifs. Autumn is a pleasant season for visiting wagashi shops, because the displays move from pale moon shapes to deeper reds, golds and browns as the leaves change.

Using the calendar as a visitor

For travelers, the easiest way to follow the calendar is to look at what shops are selling and ask staff for the name of the sweet and its season. Many shops put a small card beside each item. Buying one or two seasonal sweets with tea is a straightforward way to taste the time of year. Visiting once in each season, or looking at the same shop's offerings in different months, shows how much the choices change, while the basic ingredients of bean paste, rice and agar stay familiar.

Since fresh sweets spoil quickly, plan to eat them the same day or as the shop advises. Mochi can be hard to chew, and the Wikipedia article on mochi notes that authorities advise cutting it into small pieces, especially for elderly people, because of choking risks. This guide shares general cultural information, not professional advice. Festival dates and shop menus change, so check the current schedule before your visit.

Frequently Asked Questions

What wagashi are eaten in spring?

Typical spring wagashi include sakuramochi, which is eaten especially around Hinamatsuri on March 3 and during cherry blossom viewing, and botamochi, which is associated with the spring equinox week. Hishi mochi, the multicolored rice cakes of the doll festival, are another March tradition. Availability varies by shop and region.

Is the leaf on sakuramochi or kashiwa mochi edible?

The cherry leaf on sakuramochi is pickled, and eating it is a matter of personal preference. The oak leaf on kashiwa mochi is not eaten. If you are unsure, ask the shop staff, and look at how locals handle the sweet before you try it.

Which wagashi are best in summer?

Chilled, translucent sweets such as mizu yokan, kuzumochi and mizu manju are typical summer choices. They are served cold and often look like clear water or glass. Many shops also offer light, jelly-style sweets with agar or kudzu. Choices differ from shop to shop.

Want to go deeper? Tokyo Paul's book 30 Japanese Wagashi is available on Amazon.

Keep Exploring

More guides from Tokyo Paul: Wagashi vs Western Sweets: Why Japanese Confections Taste Different, Nerikiri: How Wagashi Artists Shape Seasonal Sweets and Yokan and Manju: Bean Paste Sweets with Centuries of Craft.