The weed farmers detest most turns out to be a rare delicacy Japan imports in large quantities every year

The Dragon Boat Festival is coming around again soon. Has your family started wrapping zongzi yet? Can I just say that our family started wrapping zongzi at the beginning of the month? We have already eaten one batch, and recently my mom started wrapping a second batch.

In our country there are many choices for zongzi leaves, such as reed leaves, Indocalamus leaves, tree leaves and bamboo leaves, but Japan is different: their zongzi leaves are imported from our country.

In rural areas there is a kind of tree called the Quercus dentata (Japanese emperor oak), and farmers truly detest it, because this kind of tree generally does not grow tall, so it has no economic value and can only be taken home to burn as firewood.

But the Japanese use it for a delicacy eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival. It is generally used to wrap "wagashi", because its meaning is "good fortune and happiness as one wishes, health and longevity".