Higashi, in contrast to namagashi, are a category of wagashi with any type of dry consistency.

Sweet higashi are roughly equivalent to Western cookies or biscuits.

A narrower definition of higashi may confine the recipe to one or more kinds of sugar, with a particular sort of flour, and some other additives, while there are some higashi made solely of sugar, with no flour content.

Flours made of other ingredients, like azuki, soybean or green pea and starches are often used too.

The most common and well-known higashi is rakugan, but the definition of the word[clarification needed] is somewhat vague and sometimes not suitable for a certain type of wagashi, so the word higashi would be better in some cases.