Mochi, a no gluten, no cholesterol, all carb gelatinous rice ball. Plain, it tastes like you’d suspect rice flour would taste. With filling, like red bean paste or chocolate cream or matcha, it’s a one-squishy-sticky-bite with just enough sweet to call it a dessert. Sticky as in peanut-butter-sticks-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth sticky. The texture and stickiness varies according to…
Day: April 7, 2025
More photos from Sengan-en
Post by Ella The day was beautiful. Temps in the high 60’s, blue skies The pair of Satsuma-ware vases (photo below)are an exact replica of the set presented to Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, by the 29th head of the Shimadzu family, Tadayoshi in 1896. The originals were made by the 12th generation…
Cat lovers rejoice
Post by Ella The Cat Shrine at Sengan-en (mentioned by Grubb in his “Span of the clan” post) “enshrines the two cats that safely returned from the battlefield out of seven that were taken”. Were they warrior cats? I searched for an answer. It seems cats were taken to do battle with rodents. Hungry combatants…
The span of the clan
The Shimazu-shi were the daimyo, or feudal lords, of Satsuma (Kagoshima), Ōsumi, and Hyūga provinces in Japan from the 13th century until the mid-19th. In other words, the Shimazu family were landholding magnates for around 500 years. The span of this clan makes European dynasties look like brief historical blips. The feudal narrative of the Shimazu clan…