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Nagayama Kōin 長山孔寅

Cakes Wrapped in Oak Leaves

Maker

Nagayama Kōin 長山孔寅 (1765-1849
b. in Akita, worked in Kyoto and Osaka, Japan)

Title

Cakes Wrapped in Oak Leaves

Period

Edo Period

Year

1822

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink and color

Supports

Geography

Origin: Japan

Dimensions

Shikishiban: 21 x 17.6 cm (8 1/4 x 6 15/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription Text/Poem: うら表家はへたてすかしは餅この手つくりとみそませてやる　千代松彦

むつましくかたみにつゝむ柏もち夫婦のなかそふたおもてなき 抜小路近道

邪を拂󠄀（払）ひ鬼を追てふ節句をはたん波とやいはんたん午とやいはむ　鶴廼屋


Signature: 孔寅 Kōin

Seals: Designer's seal: 孔寅 Kōin (Hirotora)
Block carer's seal: 谷清好

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of George Pierce Metcalf

Object Number

56.039.54

Type

Exhibition History

Deep Cuts
Stories from Japanese Surimono Prints
May 23, 2026 – Oct 04, 2026
Eating in Edo
Apr 01, 2023 – Oct 08, 2023

Label copy

Kashiwa mochi, a round rice cake filled with red-bean paste and wrapped in a kashiwa (oak leaf), is commonly eaten on the fifth day of the fifth month during the festival known as Tango no Sekku. The oak leaf, which symbolizes strength and prosperity, is not eaten. During the Edo period, these cakes featured salty red-bean paste, as sugar was a luxury. Sweet red-bean paste became popular over time and today is the conventional filling in kashiwa mochi.

Surimono from Osaka and Edo
The Pumpelly Album
May 23, 2008 – Oct 05, 2008
Marking the Occasion
The Japanese Tradition of Surimono
Feb 03, 2006 – May 28, 2006

Label copy

These rice cakes, known in Japanese as Kashiwa mochi, are filled with sweet bean paste and wrapped in oak leaves for the celebration of the Boys’ Day Festival, a traditional holiday that fell on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. In Modern Japan, the holiday is now called Children’s Day and falls on May 5.

Marking the Occasion
Surimono from Edo and Osaka
Sep 15, 2000 – Dec 03, 2000

Label copy

These rice cakes, known in Japanese as kashiwamochi, are filled with sweet bean paste and wrapped in oak leaves for the celebration of the Boys’ Day Festival, a traditional holiday that fell on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. In modern Japan, the holiday is now called Children’s Day and falls on May 5.

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Nagayama Kōin 長山孔寅 (1765-1849
b. in Akita, worked in Kyoto and Osaka, Japan)
Tani Seikō 谷清好 (1822 - 1831, Edo and Osaka, Japan), block carver
Cakes Wrapped in Oak Leaves, 1822
Polychrome woodblock print with embossing (surimono)
Shikishiban: 21 x 17.6 cm (8 1/4 x 6 15/16 inches)
Gift of George Pierce Metcalf 56.039.54

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