June is the start of the raining season, when the steady, gentle rain makes it hard to feel cheerful. Even when the sun peeks through, the air still feels heavy with humidity and it's hard to feel refreshed. But maybe it's because this season tends to be so damp and dreary that it's the perfect time to welcome others with something light and refreshing—a way to turn the rainy season into a moment of quiet charm.

Otoshibumi（落とし文）
Its name means "dropped letter," referring both to secret old love notes and to a type of beetle that rolls leaves to lay its eggs—like a tiny message. Otoshibumi mimics this image: it’s usually made from Nerikiri Dough with sweet bean paste as a filling.

Hydrangea（紫陽花）and Green Plum（青梅） Motif Wagashi
A popular Motifs during this season for Nerikiri and Uiro, Sold in Wagashi Shops.

We have festivals all year round in Japan and one of the well known festivals in June is the  Nagoshi no Harae（夏越の祓え）／Summer Purification Ceremony

Nagoshi no Harae is a traditional Shinto purification ritual held at the end of June in Japan. The ceremony is meant to cleanse people of sins, impurities, and misfortunes accumulated in the first half of the year and to pray for good health and safety during the remainder of the year.

One of the most symbolic aspects of this ritual is the Chinowa Kuguri, where participants walk through a large ring made of miscanthus reeds (called a chinowa) as a symbolic act of purification. This act is believed to remove spiritual impurities and bring about renewed vitality.
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The ritual is usually conducted at Shinto shrines across Japan, and it's often accompanied by prayers, offerings, and sometimes the burning or releasing in a river of symbolic objects such as paper dolls (Hitogata/人形), which are believed to absorb a person’s sins and misfortunes.

Minazuki – A Traditional Japanese Sweet for Summer Purification
Minazuki is a traditional Japanese sweet (wagashi) commonly eaten around the time of the Nagoshi no Harae.

This confection consists of a base of white firm rice cake), topped with sweet azuki (red beans). It is typically cut into triangular shapes, which are said to represent blocks of ice. In the past, ice was a luxury item used to cool off in the summer, so the shape symbolizes a wish for protection against the summer heat and good health during the hottest months of the year.
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The red beans are also believed to have protective qualities, warding off evil spirits. Eating Minazuki during this time is a seasonal tradition meant to bring purification and blessings for the second half of the year.

If you would like to visit a shrine that has the Chinowa, please visit this website (In Japanese Only)

Tokyo:東京都 茅の輪くぐり神社リスト121社（MAP付き）｜夏越の大祓
Kyoto:：無病息災を願う、6月の風物詩「夏越の祓」を体験しよう！

​Simply Oishii Wagashi School will be making Early Spring Motifs starting from June. To book a nerikiri wagashi class, please go to this page this pages or contact us.

Last week I was in Jakarta or the second time to visit Elm's corner which is a certified school of Wagashi Promotion Association(WPA) Japan in Indonesia.

Wagashi Promotion Association is an organization I run which is dedicated to sharing the beauty and traditions of wagashi.

We are excited to have them onboard to promote wagashi in Indonesia together. In my last trip they have taken our Nerikiri Basic Course, which is a certificate course to learn the basic techniques in wagashi making.  For those residing in Indonesia, this course can be now taken at Elm's corner and be certified as an instructor by WPA. 

Last month we hosted a corporate team building event at our studio for a foreign company based in Yokohama.

We started off with a short presentation on wagashi (Japanese sweets), then moved on to actually making them. First we made two seasonal motifs, the sakura and the sakura leaf. 

Then each table had to undergo the task of making original designs based on the given theme.

This table's theme was "spring". Very original and creative, with spring colors!
Both teams did a brilliant job and it was a tough call, but as this is a team building event, we chose the spring team as all team members worked together to create one artwork, 

A big hand to the autumn team. although, they didn't win the team award, one of the members received the best nerikiri award.  

After the award ceremony, they all ate one of their creations with a bowl of matcha they learn how to whisk themselves as well as learning the etiquette on how to drink matcha.

A big thank you for giving us the opportunity to host this fun event. All of our instructors also enjoyed this event too.  I personally realized again how wagashi making can be such a fun team building event with a bit of competition. 

For inquiries on corporate events please visit This page or contact us  for a quotation.

As of March, we have been test running a new booking system to consolidate all our booking from Overseas Travel Agents and Direct Booking. 
From April 1st, All our bookings for Mochi and Nerikiri Class will be using this system.

In this 12 hour course, you will not only learn 8 kinds of popular Japanese sweets, but also learn about the ingredients that are used in Japanese sweets making as well as the background and history behind each sweet..

In wagashi making there are various kinds of flour, sugar and leaving agents, some quite unique and not heard of to most people outside Japan. 40 page textbook will tell you the difference between each ingredients and whether they can be substituted by other ingredients.

This course also comes with a tool kit which includes all of the tools that are used in the course and hard to find overseas. You will need a steamer and hot plate (or shallow frying pan) . for the course.

To learn more about this course including course fees, please visit, Wagashi Promotion Association's Website..
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If you apply for the certificate, you will be entitled to use this recipe for commercial use including holding your own courses in your country. An annual fee of 3960 yen and a certificate fee of 22,000 is required.

Happy New Year to all of you wagashi lovers!
This year, I made a resolution to start my blog again. Since the end of the Pandemic, I have been very busy with in person classes with tourists coming into Japan.

Since I couldn't handle the sudden surge of booking coming in, I decided to train those who are interested in teaching Japanese sweets to foreigners so I can pass on some of my work to them.

Since they are doing a great job running classes, I no longer teach classes unless we are short of staff and this has given me some time to think about expanding our business.

So, I hope to update this blog more often so that you know what's going on.

The past two weekends I attended a course on learning how to make Hasamigiku （はさみ菊）a nerikiri chrysanthemum made with scissors. Although I have taken couple of classes to learn this art. I never quite got the hang of it, and I never had the time to practice. So I finally decided to take it more seriously and took an online course from Wagashi Kobo Mochiko in Fukuoka which I found on Instagram.

The instructor who is a wagashi artisan looked very young in contrast to her works of a master. Because she never showed her face until the end of the class I thought she may be older than me, actually she looked as if she was in her twenties. Nonetheless, she was amazing!  I think her class was the best class for cooking class that I have taken so far. I would strongly recommend those who are eager to learn this art, if you speak Japanese, can hire an interpreter.

The class focused more on practice rather than demonstration, but a video was provided that we can see her in action later on. She would check one by one and tell us where we are doing wrong, and why it's wrong, and give advice on how to improve. 

The class started with making the nerikiri dough which is suitable for making the hasamigiku (another eye opener). and how to shape the dough that will be the base for the kiku. 

Then we would sit and listen to her lecture on the theory behind making the perfect hasamigiku. The last part of the first day would be to make one kiku while the instructor gives us advice.

The second session started out with review of the theory and made more hasamigiku, one big and  one medium size while she gave out more advices. 

After 8 hours of learning about Hasamigiku, I think I have learned a great deal and with more practice, I will be confident enough to hold my own classes and teach in her style.

The front row is from the second class and the rear row is from the first class. My first hasamigiku in this class started from the far left so there is a huge difference if you  watch  closely.

Today, I am happy to announce that Simply Oishii Japanese Cooking Class has officially changed it's name to Simply Oishii Wagashi School. My cooking class will be focusing on Japanese Sweets and I have renewed my website accordingly.

Ever since the pandemic, I have been getting many requests for online classes for Japanese sweets, and this has taken up most of my time which made it difficult for me to do savory classes. 

So, I have finally decided to concentrate on wagashi (Japanese Sweets) and to enhance my skills for that to enable me to pass on what I have learned to other people.

My School Logo has changed and my new logo has dango under the sakura tree which is called "Ohanami Dango" a three color dango that I make in my online mochi class. This dango represents how Japanese sweets are strongly connected with the Japanese seasons. 

I hope to not only teach the skills for making wagashi but also the spirit of making wagashi and the traditions and history behind it.

So, it is a new challenge for me after almost 7 years of running my cooking class. I am looking forward to learning more and teaching more!

Last week my online Mochi making class went live on Amazon Explore. Amazon Explore is a new service which allows customers to book live virtual experiences led by local experts. So you can tour around a foreign city with a tour guide from your home.

The difference between an YouTube travel channel or any other online experience is that this is a one on one and you can ask the tour guide to go to a souvenir shop and buy something and have it delivered to your home.

My cooking class does not have a shopping function at the moment, but in the future I hope to have a class where you can  shop for wagashi tools.

This service is still on Beta and available in the US by invitation. I am looking forward to how this is going to develop in the future.

Amazon Explore Beta >>> Learn More  

 This month, I took JSA's latest Instructor Course - Higashi & Han-namagashi Certified Instructor Course（干菓子＆半生菓子認定講師講座）. Higashi is dry confections and Han-namagashi is half dried confections often served during the tea ceremony. 

The confections are made with sugar, rice flour and water. The water content is minimal to last longer.  It is shaped and colored into a seasonal motif. Compared with Jo-namagashi (High grade fresh confections), it may not stand out, but the simple beauty and the subtle sweetness is just as appealing.

In this 8 hour course you will learn how to make six kinds of confections, 17 designs and learn 40 kinds of techniques.

Since you need special tools and unique ingredients, it may be difficult to hold one day online classes for this art, but once JSA comes out with an English textbook, I will be holding this diploma course in person and online. Tools and ingredients will be included in the kit.

Please see JSA's website for the detail of this course.

If you are interested to take this course, please follow my Facebook or Instagram.