The ingredients of relishes served with libations in seasonal rites (33 times in both spring and autumn), mainly recorded by Shunsui RAI (1746-1816, a Confucian in the later Edo era) were investigated. Liberation relishes were prepared for every rite, indicating their essential nature for food offered in seasonal rites.These relishes consisted of suimono (soup without miso), hitashimono (boiled greens flavoured with various sauces), pickles, nimono (food boiled in bonito soup), and tade-zushi (sushi prepared with water pepper). Tade zushi was often offered from a brother of Shunsui, indicating that food offerings were prepared by all the RAI family and not only by the Shunsui family. These food ingredients were regularly used in specified recipes.
