This time of year we are starting to see the early blossoming sakura cherry blossoms. The wagashi confectionary shops are starting to offer sakura mochi. There are many variations. Ginza Akebono’s sakura mochi is a sweet azuki red bean paste surrounded by a thin cherry colored pancake wrapped in an edible salted cherry tree leaf…
Category: wagashi
Matsumoto Kissa Senzu Wagashi
Kissa Senzu serves modern and traditional wagashi sweets inside of the historic Kaiundo confectionary shop, opened in 1884 in Matsumoto. Monaka, a crispy wafer is served with a flight of three types of red beans (smooth, chunky, and whole). A fun way to compare the textures. Dorayaki of two small pancakes stuffed with sweet anko…
Ginza Kikunoya
Kikunoya in Ginza came up with the idea of dry confectionaries for tea time and this colorful fukiyose was developed. Presented in colorful tins the sweets have a long shelf life and are a fun omiyage gift for friends. Opened in 1890 Kikunoya is a busy shop in the heart of Ginza (Ginza 5-9-17). The…
Kanazawa Kazu Nakashima Fruit Mochi
Mochi stuffed with a sweet white bean paste and seasonal fruit. Café @Kazu_Nakashima in the Higashi Chaya district of Kanazawa specializes in fruits mochi. The building housing the cafe dates to the Edo period (1603-1867) and is as charming as the sweets. The shop serves teas, other sweets, and mattcha latte. Chef Nakashima is a…
Yakumo Saryo Asacha Breakfast
Yakumo Saryo is a tea lover’s paradise that is open for breakfast. It doesn’t serve coffee, so if you are like me, have an espresso before you come. The name of the meal is 朝茶 asacha, morning tea. The restaurant does not allow photos, so the best I could do was these two pictures of…
Tokyo’s Softest Mochi? 築地福餅
Updated 31 May 2016. We are very sad to say that this shop has closed. Today was the last day. We wish the owner much happiness in her retirement. Shinji found out the husband of the owner used to own this shop and was selling seafood here. When he passed away the wife took over…
Tokyo’s Best Mamé Daifuku
Wagashi, traditional Japanese confectionaries, are often made with azuki, tiny red beans, and mochi, sticky rice pounded until its like a taffy. While I grew up eating some of these, I was never a big fan until I tried the mamé daifuku from Mizuho in Harajuku. The smooth azuki paste is not too sweet. But what makes…
Toraya Cafe in Omotesando
There is no better way to beat the Tokyo heat in the middle of the day than with an ice-cold sweet. This suika (watermelon) mizore at Toraya Cafe in Omotesando Hills hits the spot. What caught my attention to this when I first spotted it on a friend’s facebook page was that it comes…
Gyokueido in Ningyocho 人形町の玉英堂
Gyokueidou 玉英堂 Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi Ningyocho 2-3-2 中央区日本橋人形町2-3-2 03-3666-2625 9:30 – 21:00 (Monday – Saturday), until 17:00 (Sunday and holidays) closed the last Sunday of each month http://www.ningyocho.or.jp/shop/a28.html (Japanese) Commanding the corner, this branch of a Kyoto shop dates back 400 years. Gyokueidou is famous for two sweets, its dorayaki of pancakes stuffed with azuki paste…
Toukai in Ningyocho 人形町の東海
Toukai 東海 Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi Ningyocho 1-16-12 中央区日本橋人形町1-16-12 03-3666-7063 9:00 – 19:00, closed Sunday and holidays no website For almost 100 years Toukai has been a popular wagashi shop in Ningyocho. Be sure to pick up their signature Japanese-style waffles. There is a small selection of other wagashi confectionaries. Across the street is a well-stocked sake…
Tsukushi in Ningyocho 人形町のつくし
Tsukushi つくし Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi Ningyocho 2-1-12 中央区日本橋人形町2-1-12 03-3664-7357 8:00 – 20:00 http://www.ntv.co.jp/burari/030329/info02.html (Japanese) Tsukushi is a kanmidokoro (sweets café) that offers the classics of anmitsu and its many variations. There are sweets to go, but the real reason to come here is to sit and in the café to indulge in their signature purin, a…
Food Gifts – Omiyage from Tokyo 東京のお土産
Omiyage most often describes gifts that you pick up while traveling that you bring back to your family, friends, and colleagues. For example, on a trip to Kyoto I may select some local jizake or wagashi for friends. For my colleagues at work I may pick up a box of yatsuhashi, a popular confectionary that Kyoto is known for….
Higashiya Ginza
For traditional Japanese confectionaries there is Toraya, which is one of Japan’s most famous shops with locations around Tokyo. A modern confectionary shop that I love is Higashiya in Ginza. I first met the folks from Higashiya at a food event where I was pouring dessert wine from Coco Farm and Winery. The Higashiya team…
Tokyo Station Omiyage – Nihonbashi Nishiki Hourin 日本橋錦豊琳
Karintou are traditional sweet confectionaries made from a flour based cracker that is fermented and then is deep-fried and covered with a sugar coating. The sugar coating can be a white sugar but many times it is a dark sugar coating that is rich in minerals. The cracker can have different ingredients folded into it…
Ginza Toraya 銀座とらや
Toraya is a purveyor to the Imperial Family and its rich history can be dated back to the 1600s. The signature item at Toraya is the yokan cakes wrapped in bamboo leaves. This is considered one of the top shops for wagashi, in particular, the yokan. The yokan comes in several flavors including azuki, mattcha,…
Kotobukido in Ningyocho 人形町の寿堂
Kotobukido 寿堂 Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi Ningyocho 2-1-4 中央区日本橋人形町2-1-4 Tel. 0120-48-0400 (toll free number in Japan) 9:00 – 21:00, closed Sunday This 5th generation shop is so small that only a handful of people can enter at one time. The three-story gray building with red trimming displays some of their confectionaries behind glass display windows up front….
Shigemori Eishindou in Ningyocho 人形町の重盛永信堂
Shigemori Eishindou 重盛永信堂 Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi Ningyocho 2-1-1 中央区日本橋人形町2-1-1 Tel. 03-3666-5885 9:00 – 20:00 (Saturday and holidays until 17:30) closed Sundays Commanding the corner with its large display of stuffed cakes and sweet crackers is Shigemori Eishindou. It opened in 1917 as a shop selling ningyoyaki of shichifukujin (the seven lucky gods). The azuki paste in…
Kintokiya in Kagurazaka 神楽坂のきんときや
Kintokiya きんときや Shinjuku-ku, Kagurazaka 2-10 新宿区神楽坂2-10 Phone: 03-3260-4151 10:00 – 20:00 (Sundays and holidays until 19:00) no holidays http://www.kintokiya.com (Japanese) This tiny wagashi sweets shop has items based on with imo (sweet potatoes) and kuri (chestnuts). There are also some classic sweets including yokan and dango. In the summertime pick up a purple sweet potato…
Kinozen in Kagurazaka 神楽坂の紀の善
Kinozen 紀の善 Shinjuku-ku, Kagurazaka 1-12 新宿区神楽坂1-12 Tel. 03-3269-2920 11:00 – 21:00, Monday – Saturday 12:00 – 18:00, Sunday & holidays Closed the 3rd Sunday of each month no website Kinozen is one of the cities popular kanmidokoro. Located just next door to Fujiya, Kinozen too often has a line out the front door. Their…
Food Sake Tokyo 