is a symbolic Japanese sweet

Wagashi

is a traditional Japanese confectionery which is often served with tea, especially the types made of mochi, azuki bean paste, and fruits.Wagashi is typically made from natural ingredients...

 associated with the Hinamatsuri

Hinamatsuri

The Japanese , or Girls' Day, is held on March 3. Platforms covered with a red carpet are used to display a set of representing the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period.- Origin and customs :...

 "Girl's Day" festival, which coincides with the calendar date for Xiuxi

Xiuxi

Shangsi Festival , also known as the Spring Purification Festival, was an ancient tradition in China during which people would go for an outing by the water, during the third day of the third lunar calendar month, where they would enjoy themselves at a picnic, pluck orchids, and to rid themselves...

 (上巳). The sweet is rhomboid

Rhomboid

Traditionally, in two-dimensional geometry, a rhomboid is a parallelogram in which adjacent sides are of unequal lengths and angles are oblique.A parallelogram with sides of equal length is a rhombus but not a rhomboid....

 in shape and typically formed from three layers of red(pink), white, and green mochi

Mochi

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki. While also eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time...

, from top to bottom. Depending on region, the red may be substituted with yellow, or the sweet may have 5 or 7 layers instead. It is usually presented with hina dolls.

The shape is believed to have originated in the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, and to be a representation of fertility.

Colors

The red of the mochi are derived from fruits of Gardenia jasminoides

Gardenia jasminoides

Gardenia jasminoides, is a fragrant flowering evergreen tropical plant, a favorite in gardens worldwide. It originated in Asia and is most commonly found growing in Vietnam, Southern China, Taiwan, Japan and India...

(山梔子), and is symbolic of plum flowers. The white is made from the water caltrop

Water caltrop

The water caltrop, water chestnut, buffalo nut, bat nut, devil pod or Singhara or Pani-fol is either of two species of the genus Trapa: Trapa natans and Trapa bicornis...

(菱), and represents the snow and its cleansing effects. Finally, the green is from Gnaphalium affine

Gnaphalium affine

Gnaphalium affine D. Don, also known as Jersey Cudweed, is a species of plants belonging to the genus Gnaphalium. The species grows extensively in East Asia including temperate regions of China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan as well as some high altitude tropical regions of India, Nepal, and Thailand...

(ハハコグサ) or mugwort like kusa mochi

Kusa mochi

, also known as yomogi mochi, is a Japanese sweet. It is considered a seasonal dish for spring. It is made from mochi and leaf of yomogi , or more traditionally from the Gnaphalium affine . It may also be filled with red bean paste.Kusa mochi may also be used to make a kind of daifuku called yomogi...

, and is believed to be restoratives that improves the blood.