In a Japanese tea gathering, the sweet comes before the matcha — not after. There's a reason rooted in taste, the stomach, and timing. Here's how omogashi and higashi work, why they're served when they are, and what to do as a guest.
The best Japanese sweets aren't fixed recipes — they're a calendar. A wagashi shaped like a half-melted clear stream means July; an unhusked rice motif means harvest. Here's how jonamagashi read the seasons, and the motifs to watch for month by month.
Mochi, daifuku, dorayaki, yokan, manju, nerikiri — they all get called 'Japanese sweets,' but they're built from different doughs, fillings, and intentions. Here's how to tell them apart, what's inside each one, and how to order without guessing.