Botamochi

A Japanese sweet of lightly pounded sticky rice shaped into balls and coated with sweet red bean paste.

Botamochi: A plate of oval botamochi coated in dark, coarse red bean paste, with one coated in golden soybean flour and one cut to show the sticky rice inside.
  • Cakes, cookies, pastries and baked goods
  • Japan

Also called: ohagi

Botamochi, also called ohagi, is made from glutinous rice, sometimes mixed with ordinary rice, that is steamed and then only lightly pounded so some grains stay whole. The rice is shaped into ovals and covered with sweet red bean paste, or rolled in roasted soybean flour or sesame.

It is traditionally eaten during the spring and autumn equinox weeks, when families visit ancestral graves. The name botamochi refers to the peony of spring and ohagi to the bush clover of autumn, though the sweets are very similar. Its texture is softer and rougher than smooth mochi.

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Sources

Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.

  1. Japanese Culture Experience : Ohagi making, Kansai University