2014 No.12

Another Side of Japan: Snacks and Sweets

7

Make Some, Eat Some:
Savor the Experience of Japanese Sweets and Snacks

Add this to your itinerary while traveling in Japan: making some Japanese sweets and snacks. You can try your hand at it if you visit certain long-established shops or popular places.

Try making traditional sweets by hand

You would probably find it hard to make wagashi without a little instruction. Luckily, Kyoto has many old and well-respected shops with their own wagashi culture, and a growing number of people, many of them young women, are keen to try their hand at this traditional art.

Photos by Takahashi Hitomi  Collaboration: Kanshundo

Kanshundo, a wagashi shop in Kyoto, has roots going back almost 150 years, and almost every day it holds classes on how to prepare traditional sweets. Make a reservation beforehand and you, too, can easily join a class. Written instructions are available in English, Korean and Chinese.

For more information, contact Kanshundo:
http://www.kanshundo.co.jp/museum/make/annai.htm

Top: Form bean paste into a small ball, and then coat it with another type of colored, strained, and mashed bean paste. Fancy shapes like these are actually quite difficult to achieve.
Below: These temptingly beautiful wagashi are shaped to remind us of nature in autumn, like a red leaf or a ripe persimmon. Now they are ready to eat.

A Wonderland of Snacks and Sweets Waiting To Be Discovered Under Tokyo Station

Many people from all over Japan and all over the world come to Tokyo, and the gateway to the city is Tokyo Station. Under the station is Tokyo Okashi Land, the location of a number of shops that serve as showrooms for major confectionery producers. Come to taste sweets fresh from the confectioner’s hands, and buy exclusive items. Snacks loved by the Japanese are here in many different forms, all enjoyable.

Collaboration: Tokyo Station Development Co., Ltd.

Ezaki Glico's confectionery store Glicoya Kitchen is aptly named—it has its own kitchen selling just-made sweets. One regularly available treat is almonds that are coated in chocolate then transformed into something truly scrumptious with a sprinkling of cocoa powder (photo on right).

Left: Another outlet under Tokyo Station, Calbee+, is operated by the famous snack maker CALBEE, Inc. Try their potato chips straight out of the fryer.
Right: Hi-Chew candy has a texture something like chewing gum, and during irregularly scheduled events Morinaga Candy Shop shows people how to mold it into fun shapes by stretching or squishing it.

For more information, contact Tokyo Okashi Land: http://www.tokyoeki-1bangai.co.jp/street/okashi