Let us join Matsuo Basho in Edo. The year is 1683. Perhaps we are at Basho’s humble thatched cottage. More likely we are at the home of a friend as Basho’s haiku suggest he was not much of a cook. Perhaps it is late in the year, a holiday, a sumptuous feast, then desert.

After a meal
watch TV, then nap
— Thanksgiving

A meal is not complete until desert is served. A sweet rice cake called kusa mochi qwrapped in mugwort leaves.

Pale green, hey —
an ear protruding from
the kusa mochi cake.

青ざしや草餅の穂に出でつらん
aozashi ya kusa mochi no ho ni ide tsuran
— Matsuo Basho, 1683, age 40

青ざし (aozashi), pale green, the color of young plants or new leaves.

や (ya), used to convey emphasis.

草餅 (kusa mochi), a sweet Japanese rice cake made with mugwort (yomogi) leaves, a tall green herb. The mugwort is a digestive aide. Basho suffered stomach problems for much of his life.

に (ni), meaning “on”; 穂 (ho), literally “ear” as in the protruding spikes of the mugwort stalk.

出でつらん (ide tsuran), something that has “emerged” or “come forth.”