noun
ohagi; sweet rice ball coated with red bean paste, soybean flour, or sesame
A traditional Japanese sweet made from glutinous rice formed into balls and coated with sweetened red bean paste (anko), kinako (soybean flour), or sesame. Often eaten during the autumn equinox (higan).
お彼岸にはおはぎを作って食べます。
We make and eat ohagi during the equinoctial week.
祖母が作るおはぎは、あんこがたっぷりでおいしい。
The ohagi my grandmother makes are delicious with plenty of sweet bean paste.
Botamochi is essentially the same sweet, but the name is used in spring (around the spring equinox), while ohagi is associated with autumn. The names come from seasonal flowers: botan (peony) for spring and hagi (bush clover) for autumn.
The name is said to derive from hagi (bush clover), a flower associated with autumn. The honorific prefix o- is added. The exact origin is uncertain, but it is traditionally linked to the autumn equinox.