Botamochi (Botamochi) - Botamochi

Japanese: ぼた餅(牡丹餅) - ぼたもち

It is made by cooking glutinous rice or a mixture of glutinous and non-glutinous rice, crushing it in half, rolling it into small balls, and sprinkling it with red bean paste or soybean flour. It was customary to make it on the spring and autumn equinox, offer it on the Buddhist altar, and distribute it to relatives. It is a corrupted form of botan mochi, and is also called hagi no hana, hagi no mochi, or ohagi. All of these names are based on the shape and color of peonies and bush clover, and the word hagi no hana is written as Faguino fana in the Nipputo Jisho. The Honcho Shokan (1697) introduces the pun-like alternative names "knowing no one next door" because it is easy to make without making any noise with the pounding of mochi, and "yobune" because it is not clear whether the mochi has been pounded, and also says that it is a food for the common people and is rarely eaten by the nobles.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

もち米，または，もち米とうるち米をまぜてたき，半つぶしにして小さく丸め，アズキあん，きな粉などをまぶしたもの。春秋の彼岸につくって仏壇に供え，親戚縁者などへ配る風習があった。ぼたん餅のなまった語で，別に〈萩（はぎ）の花〉〈萩の餅〉〈おはぎ〉ともいう。いずれも形や色をボタンやハギに見立てたもので，萩の花の語は《日葡辞書》にFaguino fanaとして書かれている。《本朝食鑑》(1697)は，手軽に餅つきの音も立てずにつくれるので〈隣知らず〉，またついたかどうかわからぬので〈夜舟（よぶね）〉というだじゃれめいた異称を紹介し，庶民の食べもので貴人の食とされることは少ない，ともいっている。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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