Ohigan Wagashi: Crochet Ohagi・お彼岸の和菓子: かぎ針編みおはぎ

Today is the autumnal equinox, or Shuubun no Hi秋分の日 in Japan. It is a central date during the autumn Ohigan御彼岸, a week-long Japanese Buddhist holiday during which the Japanese pay respects to their ancestors by cleaning the graves, praying or reciting sutras, burning incense and making offerings.

In Japan, the autumn Ohigan is never without ohagiおはぎ. Ohagi is traditionally offered and eaten during the autumn Ohigan, as offerings to honour one’s ancestors and to express gratitude. A traditional wagashi made of lightly pounded glutinous rice covered with azuki bean paste, ohagi is a simple confection that is deeply rooted in Japanese culture.

An autumn Ohigan offering: ohagi with chunky azuki bean paste and with soybean powder (kinako). I tried to recreate the bumpy texture of traditional ohagi by using mini bean stitches, and the texture of kinako ohagi by using chenille yarn.

Ohagi are eaten during Obon or Ohigan because the red colour of azuki beans has been believed to have the power to ward off evil spirits since ancient times. For the same reason, azuki beans are believed to be auspicious, and are often used in celebratory foods or offerings. Sekihan in Japan, for instance. This belief historically originated in Chinese culture and is shared in the East Asian cultural sphere and among many overseas Chinese.

Likewise, rice and rice-based foods (dango, mochi, sake) also with deep cultural significance in Japan, and have been sacred offerings since ancient times to honour the deities, to pray for protection and good harvest, and to give thanks for the year’s harvest.

Watanuki's homemade ohagi as an ochuugen gift for Yuuko. Screengrab from ×××HOLiC, episode 11 at 00:02:56. ©2006 CLAMP/Kodansha/アヤカシ研究会/TBS/Production I.G, et al.

During the spring equinox or the spring Ohigan, which falls in March, the same wagashi is called botamochiぼたもち, and is presented as offerings during that time. Their names are derived from seasonal flowers: the peony (botan牡丹) in spring and the bush clover (hagi萩) in autumn. But it seems ohagi is the more commonly used term for this confection.

It's said that botamochi and ohagi were so-named because they resemble the said flowers. To be honest, I don't see the resemblance. My personal belief is that the wagashi were simply so-named because the peony and bush clover are representative of each season and have cultural significance. The peony, for instance, blooms in spring and is cherished as the king of flowers, symbolising nobility and honour. While the bush clover is a quintessential blossom of autumn, blooming at the beginning of autumn, and is poetically associated with autumn, being one of the seven grasses of autumn (aki no nanakusa秋の七草). But I digress.

The crochet botamochi is made with single crochet stitches and Scheepjes Catona No.396 Rose Wine. The crochet ohagi is made using mini bean stitches and Scheepjes Organicon No.243 Cherry Jam. Following the seasonal theme, I used a porcelain plate with a white bush clover, the plate is handmade by Kutani pottery artist Shibata Yukika.

Whatever the blossom they are named after, botamochi and ohagi are essentially the same. The only difference being that ohagi is made with chunky red bean paste (tsubuanつぶあん), in which the azuki beans are simmered whole, then left intact or lightly mashed with their skins; whereas botamochi is made with smooth red bean paste (koshianこしあん), in which the cooked beans are passed through a fine sieve to remove their skins, creating a smooth paste. It is said that ohagi is made with chunky red bean paste because azuki beans are harvested in autumn and are used whole as their skins are still soft. By spring, their skins have hardened and are thus removed from the bean paste after cooking, hence the use of smooth red bean paste for botamochi.

Aside from its traditional role as a food offering, ohagi can also be enjoyed at other times of the year, as well as in different variations like with soybean powder (kinako), ground sesame, aonori seaweed, chestnut paste or edamame paste (like in zunda mochi). Soybean powder (kinako) is a popular variation; often made with the lightly pounded glutinous rice covered with the red bean paste, then coated with the soybean powder.

For the crochet kinako ohagi, I used sand coloured chenille yarn to recreate the powdery appearance of the actual confection, in this case, Ruyi Niao Xiao Ke Ai Chenille Fluffy (如意鸟小可爱) divided into 2 strands. This was my 2nd time working with chenille yarn, and the first time I managed to complete the crochet piece. With a lot of frogging and redoing. Personally, I don’t like using chenille yarn. Chenille yarn is challenging to work with. I can’t see the stitches and the rounds, so I had to crochet by feel (not as easy as it sounds) and I used yarn scraps to mark the stitches.

Crochet ohagi for the autumnal equinox.

I'm not Japanese (a Japanophile, yes) so I don't observe this uniquely Japanese Buddhist holiday. But I can't help noting that the Japanese autumn Ohigan (September 20th to 26th this year) coincides with part of the Chinese Ghost month, which falls on August 22nd to September 23rd this year. In fact, todat is the last day of the Ghost month. There also seem to be some similarities between the two, for e.g. the belief that the spirits of the deceased visit the living, traditional rituals such as ritualistic food offerings and prayers. But they have different origins and conceptual bases.

In Chinese culture, we do celebrate the autumn equinox, but at a different time with the Mid-Autumn Festival during which we gift and eat mooncakes, and light up lanterns. The Mid-Autumn Festival is October 6th this year, and I'm wondering where I packed away the crochet mooncakes I made. Two-thirds of my stuff are sitting in my new apartment, still packed up in one of the boxes! (꩜ᯅ꩜;)

Benio’s singular love for ohagi. The series has no shortage of ohagi references. Screengrab from Sousei no Onmyouji, episode 1 at 00:11:48. ©2016 Sukeno Yoshiaki/Arakawa Naruhisa/Shueisha/Studio Pierrot/TXN, et al.