February's textile designHanafuda

Hanafuda, or flower-cards, isa Japanese traditional card games.

Unlike western playing-cards, each card is designed with a seasonal flower or plant associated with a month of the year. Pine, plum, sakura, wisteria, iris, peony,
clover, grass, chrysanthemum, maple, willow and paulownia.

Some animals and birds are also represented on cards, such as a boar, a deer, a butterfly, a crane, a geese, a nightingale, a cuckoo, a swallow or a Phoenix.

Colorful representations depicting the essence and beauty of Japanese culture.

About February's wagashi

In hanafuda (flower cards), February is represented by “the nightingale on plum blossom”. We made two kinds of wagashi designed with the motif of a nightingale. The first one is the traditional Uguisu Mochi. It’s a kind of Japanese sticky rice cake (mochi) with white sweet bean paste stuffed inside and green pea powder sprinkled on top. It is said that Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Daimyo who unified Japan during the Sengoku period, was deeply moved when he first tasted it during a tea ceremony held by his brother Toyotomi Hidenaga.

The second one is the modern Uguisu Mochi that has been improved in taste, texture and composition. To improve the texture of the mochi, meringue was added in, as well as frozen pistachio paste to refine its flavor. Soybean powder, fresh cream and white chocolate were mixed in the white bean paste to enhance its taste. The modern Uguisu Mochi contains “rare treasure ingredients” such as nuts and chocolate, which were near impossible to find during Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s reign. A delicacy that even the great unifier of Japan could never have savoured. Come enjoy the taste of our traditional and modern February Uguisu Mochi !

Toyotomi Hideyoshi(1537-1598)
Toyotomi hideyoshi is a warrior from the Warring State period until Azuchi-Momoyama period. He was a feudal lord (Daimyō), and later on the ruler of Japan (Tenkanin), the chief advisor of the Emperor (Kanpaku), and the Grand Chancellor. He also built the Osaka Castle. During his reign as chief advisor of the Emperor, he built the “gold tea room” and consolidated his authority through the tea ceremony.