Sakura mochi/Pulut sakura/Sakura rice-cake

Picture courtesy of furusato.sanin.jp

Now is the season of sakura rice-cake. You cannot make sakura rice-cake without the sakura leave. This is a traditional dessert to be eaten during tea time by the Japanese. The method is to add to glutinous rice flour some pick colour of the sakura. Shape the flour into a ball with red bean paste and go into the steaming pot. Just before serving, wrap the steamed cake with boiled new sakura leave (old leaves have bitter after-taste).

Anyway this is not a receipe entry, though it might be a little useful to know the culture.

Since it is sakura-viewing time now, the season word related to sakura is the in-thing for haiku enthusiast. Sakura mochi is a season word or kigo for haiku.

Let's see some haiku I took from NHK.

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1] 雨の日の　午後しずかなる　桜餅

Read: Ame hi no/ gogo shizuka naru/ sakura mochi

Translation: During rainy day/ in the quiet afternoon/ sakura rice-cake

Narrative: In the quiet afternoon, after the rain, the writer has tea with sakura rice-cake.

Note: the writer's emotion is for reader to guess.

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2] 一茶の句　三つ覚えて　桜餅

Read: Issa no ku/ mittsu oboete/ sakura mochi

Translation: Haiku by Issa/ managed to memorize three/ sakura rice-cake

Narrative: Issa is a famous haiku writer after Bashou.

While eating sakura rice-cake, the writer managed to memorise 3 of Issa's haiku.

Note: readers is to feel the writer's feeling on the impact of eating sakura rice-cake.

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3] 桜餅　正座に強く　育てられ

Read: Sakura mochi seiza ni tsuyoku sodaterare

Translation: Sakura rice-cake/ taught strongly to sit on heels/ growing up that way.

Narrative: Here sakura rice-cake is taken to be a girl, a metaphor.

Growing up in the traditional way, she is trained strictly to sit properly on her heels.

Note: In this haiku, the writer use the image of pretty sakura-cake pink in colour as a girl.

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4] もの言はぬ　男のつまむ　桜餅

Read: Mono iwanu/ otoko no tsumamu/ sakura mochi

Translation: Without any words/ secret bites and snacks for men/ sakura rice-cake.

Narrative: There is some element of eroticm in this haiku. Here the sakura rice-cake is given the image of lady "entertainer". Go figure out.

Note: Once reader catch the image of the "entertainer", this haiku goes deeper that just having snacks for teatime!

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Translation and narrative are my work.

Hopefully this entry would give more lights on how beautiful haiku peoms can be when you read behind the lines.