Photo= Purple Kakimochi hung all over the room (Kamiitanami, Maibara City, Shiga Prefecture)

The work of making "Kakimochi," or thin slices of dried rice cakes, has been in progress around the base of Mt. Ibuki in Maibara City, Shiga Prefecture. A fascinating view can be seen as slices of purple rice cakes have been hung all over the room.

A local group consisting of residents of Kamiitanami in Maibara City, "Ibuki no Yamazato Katainaka," began managing Kakimochi-making six years ago, using glutinous rice produced in the city. This winter was cold, so they started making Kakimochi from mid-December last year, one month earlier than usual. It's made in 12 flavors, which include mainly local ingredients such as "Yomogi," or mugwort, "Shiso," or perilla, and black soybeans. The group is currently focusing on the flavor of "Murasaki-imo," or purple sweet potato, because of its late harvest time.

It seems as if flowers are blooming as approximately 15,000 slices of vivid purple Kakimochi have been hung up in the production base. The group said, "Thanks to this year's severe cold, the Kakimochi has gotten great flavor."