Habutae Mochi: a Japanese sweet representative of Fukui with a more than 100-year history

Habutae Mochi
(source: Fukui Photo Gallery)

June/6/2020

Habutae Mochi (羽二重餅) is a sweet that originates from Fukui. A lot of travelers buy this as a gift.

In Chihayafuru, a well-known Japanese comic about competitive karuta, Wataya, who was born in Fukui, gives Chihaya the heroine Habutae Mochi as a gift. (If you don’t know about Chihayafuru, see my previous post: What is Chihayafuru? and what is karuta?) read more

Kasahara Ryosaku (Hakuō): martyr who introduced vaccinations for smallpox into Fukui

He is Ryosaku Kasahara.
He is Ryosaku Kasahara. (Source:福井市立郷土歴史博物館所蔵)

June/4/2020

Throughout history, human beings have experienced a lot of infectious diseases such as the new coronavirus, smallpox, tuberculosis and measles.

Among all infectious diseases, smallpox was the first infectious disease that humans eradicated from the earth.

After overcoming a lot of difficulties, Kasahara Ryosaku was the first to introduce the smallpox vaccine into Fukui. His life was so dramatic that a novel called Snow Flowers (雪の花) was written about him. read more