🍱 Mitama

Mitama refers to black soybean okowa made by steaming black beans (black soybeans) and glutinous rice. Depending on the region and people, it may be called “medama” because of its appearance. While usually written in hiragana, mitama is sometimes written as “御霊” in kanji. In the prefecture, it has long been a custom to give it as a gift at a Buddhist memorial service or roof-laying ceremony (jotoshiki). It is said that the custom of serving the black-and-white mitama as a celebratory dish spread because sekihan, with red beans, is said to be unsuitable as a roof-laying ceremony gift due to its red color that reminds people of fire. For the same reason, blue fish such as horse mackerel and mackerel are served instead of whole red sea bream. Black beans are said to represent good health and are sometimes served when recovering from childbirth.