New Year's decoration with cocoon-shaped rice cakes
A traditional decoration made by attaching small, cocoon-shaped rice cakes (or sometimes cotton) to willow or other branches, displayed during the New Year period to pray for a good harvest and sericulture. Also known as 餅花 (もちばな).
See also: 餅花
At my grandmother's house in the countryside, they still display mayudama at New Year's.
Mayudama are often seen in New Year's events in regions where sericulture once flourished.