桜餅(さくらもち)

さくらもち
noun
cherry blossom rice cake
foodculture
1. cherry blossom rice cake
A traditional Japanese sweet made of pink-tinted rice cake filled with sweet red bean paste and wrapped in a salted cherry leaf. A seasonal confection associated with spring, especially the cherry blossom season and Girls' Day (March 3).
春(はる)になると桜餅(さくらもち)が食(た)べたくなる。
When spring comes, I start craving sakuramochi.
桜餅(さくらもち)の葉(は)っぱは食(た)べる人(ひと)と食(た)べない人(ひと)がいる。
Some people eat the leaf on sakuramochi and some don't.
ひな祭(まつ)りに合(あ)わせて和菓子屋(わがしや)で桜餅(さくらもち)を買(か)ってきた。
I bought sakuramochi from the Japanese confectionery shop for Girls' Day.

Cultural note

A signature spring sweet in Japan. There are two main regional styles: the Kanto style (長命寺(ちょうめいじ)), made with a thin crepe-like wrapper, and the Kansai style (道明寺(どうみょうじ)), made with coarser, chewy rice. Both are wrapped in a salt-pickled cherry leaf (桜(さくら)の葉(は)), which is edible. Whether to eat the leaf is a perennial topic of light debate.

Common collocations

  • 桜餅(さくらもち)の葉(は): the cherry leaf wrapping
  • 桜餅(さくらもち)を作(つく)る: to make sakuramochi
  • 道明寺(どうみょうじ): Kansai-style sakuramochi
  • 長命寺(ちょうめいじ): Kanto-style sakuramochi

Related Words

Related: 柏餅(かしわもち) (oak-leaf rice cake)
general
Added 2026.2.23 20:44 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01
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