From Etsy seller Vin­tage From Japan:

“This is a vin­tage mold called kashigata. Often made of sakura (cherry wood) and sea­soned for about 3 years before carv­ing, kashigata were used to make dried con­fec­tionery made of rice flour and sugar called raku­gan. Ear­li­est records show that this prac­tice dates back to the mid-seventeenth cen­tury. These con­fec­tions were used as offer­ings and snacks for cel­e­bra­tory occa­sions and even unfor­tu­nate events. For exam­ple, when a per­son died, it was expen­sive to give flow­ers or fresh food so peo­ple made these sweets in the form of flow­ers, fish, etc. These items were then placed on the “but­su­dan” (fam­ily shrine found in the house) for the dead person.”

The shop fea­tures other won­der­ful vin­tage Japan­ese items as well–I’m espe­cially fond of the vin­tage stamps and stencils!