Dig Japan vol.13 “Minazuki (水無月)”

Minazuki is triangular wagashi that consisting of sweetly boiled azuki beans on white uiro, and is named after the month of June. In Kyoto, where it originated, it is customary to eat this on June 30. On this day, halfway through the year, a Shinto ritual called “Nagoshi no Harae” is held in Kyoto to cleanse people of the sins and impurities of the past six months and pray for good health and safety for the remaining six months.

A wagashi confectioner, Sentaro's Minazuki (Photography by 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐨)

In Japan, “Minazuki” means June, and in the lunar calendar, it is the month when rice fields are flooded with water. According to Fujimoto Josen's “Nihon no kashi” published in 1968, the origin of current one dates back to the Showa period, when a Japanese confectionery shop in Kyoto created it and it was adopted as a ceremonial food.

Minazuki is made by topping Dainagon azuki beans on the surface of steamed white uiro and steaming it again. Its triangle shape is said to resemble the ice used in the “Himuro no Sekku” festival, an event during the Edo period when samurai would cut ice from their icehouses on the first day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar and offer it to the people. Also, because a triangle is a square cut in half, it is said to represent half of a year, and the red color of the adzuki beans is believed to ward off evil spirits.

Minazuki that I made at wagashi class (Photography by 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐨)

The Edo period cookbook “Kon'nyaku hyakuchin” in 1846 features wagashi called “Haya-minazuki,” which is triangularly konjac topped with azuki bean paste. Besides, since 1999, the Fukuoka City Japanese Sweets Association has been selling “Hakata minazuki” which is made with warabimochi and azuki beans wrapped in bamboo leaves. This was invented in the 1980s because the Kyoto-style one was unfamiliar and did not sell well.

Some wagashi shops use warbler beans instead of azuki beans. Minazuki will harden if left in the refrigerator for a long time, so if it does harden, steam it again for about a minute to restore its chewy texture like when it was freshly made.

This article was written by 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐨, working as a freelance translator and press for overseas apparel brands in Japan, with the purpose of broadening her insight into the Japanese traditional culture.