Refined Sugar

These arrived in the post the other day as a present from a much missed friend in Japan, Erica - thanks, lady, for making my day!

The wrapping carried a little message and a very convincing sketch impression of Erica's baby boys - two adorable, if slightly hyperactive ferrets named Snickers and Tofu.

These are some particularly dainty examples of wagashi (和菓子), traditional Japanese sweets (Western style sweets are known as yogashi, 洋菓子) . Having tried to do some research into what they're all about today, I find that wagashi are divided up into dozens of sub-groups. These belong to the higashi (干菓子) or dried sweets segment.

They're basically sugar, and the taste doesn't vary much, except for the little disks with the printed design, which have a kind of pink-marshmallow flavour to them.

Higashi can be served as part of tea ceremony, and they are sometimes associated with important family occasions like weddings or funerals.

The range of shapes and textural variations is huge - some crumbly, others like a firm jellied sweet, and then the ones I described above, sandwiches of rice paper with a gooey sugar filling. Often they're made to fit a seasonal theme, so you'll see turning leaves, peaches, sakura (cherry blossom).
I found these adorable pink and white ones in made in honour of 2009, year of the cow!

From a specialist Kyoto sweet-maker, Kanshundo.