In modern life where time flies, we cannot afford the time to enjoy the seasons. Perhaps most people spend their time without considering the calendar. In the good old days in Japan, however, people set up kadomatsu, decorative pine trees for calling God to the front door on New Year's Day, scattered parched beans to ward off evil and bring good luck in February (Mamemaki), set up the dolls for the Doll Festival (Hina-matsuri) to wish girls good health in March, and took a bath in iris leaves during the Boys' Festival on the fifth of May for good health and safety... I regret that those traditional yearly events from ancient times are falling into oblivion, because I feel as if we are losing relief of mind. If we are drained of emotion, our skin will not be fresh and youthful. Relaxed minds sufficient to enjoy the seasons and the yearly events should be one of the requirements for beauty.

　So, a way to enjoy the seasonal atmosphere of Japan, even in modern city life where there are many limitations in housing, space, and location, is to enjoy the taste of Japanese sweets. When I think of sweets, Japanese ones are made with seasonal ingredients, plants, and events as the motif, including Hanabira-mochi (a rice cake stuffed with sweet bean paste and shaped into a petal) on New Year ﾕs Day, uguisu-mochi (a rice cake stuffed with sweet bean paste and coated with green bean powder) and sakura-mochi (a rice cake stuffed with sweet bean paste and wrapped in a salted cherry leaves) in spring, kashiwa-mochi (a rice cake stuffed with sweet bean paste wrapped in an oak leaf) for the Boys' Festival on the fifth of May, mizu-yokan (sweet adzuki bean jelly) in summer, hagino-mochi (a glutinous rice ball coated with sweet bean jam) for the autumn equinox, and tsubaki-mochi (a rice cake stuffed with sweet bean paste and coated with camellia leaves). If you buy Japanese sweets with beautiful color and shape, you will become more sensitive to the seasons. If you become familiar with the new habit of enjoying Japanese sweets in season, you will also come to enjoy selecting tableware suited to the sweets. Then, your senses will be more sharpened. How about trying it? You can imagine that you are enjoying Japanese sweets with a relaxed mind, can ﾕt you? (The rest is omitted.)