“GLACIEL” is a shop specializing in “entremets glacé,” ice cakes made with ingredients such as ice cream, sherbet and sponge cake.

With the aim of establishing entremets glacé as part of the Japanese confectionary culture, in 2013, “LeTAO” a Hokkaido brand of Western confectionary, opened a shop in Omote Sando, the place where the popularity of confectionary originated, three years ahead of the second shop in Stellar Place Sapporo.

“We came across entremets glacé when we were looking for tasty cakes,” says the PR manager.

“Ballon de Fruit” (Diameter: 12cm, Height: 9cm; 4,000 yen not including tax) is French for “Balloon of fruit.” Five types of round balloon-shaped sorbet are arranged on an almond sponge base filled with ice cream and coated with berry sauce to make a spectacular presentation resembling a bouquet of flowers.

Rich ice cream with fruit sauce, refreshing sorbet and moist sponge cake. Ideal for those who enjoy sampling a variety of tastes little at a time.
[Report and photographs: Tomoko Shimojima]

The fruit parlor “Kajitsuen River” was established in 1991 in Meguro by Takashi Nagamine, who had many years of experience buying fruit as a fruit dealer. The owner’s motto is “80% fruit, 20% fresh cream”. “I want customers to enjoy as much fruit as possible.” So says Kazumi Shirokawa, manager of the Meguro shop.

The fruits, the pride of the shop, are all amazingly sweet and juicy. As well as parfaits and cakes that are overflowing with fruit, “Zuccotto” is also a popular item.

“Zuccotto,” a dome-shaped cake said to have originated in the Tuscany region of Italy, is named after the round-shaped hat worn by clergymen. Fruit is also packed between the sponge cake and fresh cream. Enjoy the taste of strawberries, kiwi fruit and mango all in one in “Mix Zuccotto” (980 yen not including tax). Seven or eight other types of Zuccotto are also available, including strawberry, mango and berry. (Varies depending on the season)
[Report and photographs: Arisa Hoshi]

Five to thirty perfectly round chocolate balls on sticks are wrapped in the shape of a cute bouquet. The chocolate balls are filled with a thick fruit puree boiled into a caramel consistency. “Bonbon Caramel Bouquets (8 sticks)” (2,390 yen including tax) sold at “NOAKE TOKYO,” a confectioner’s with its main shop at Kannon Ura, Asakusa are ideal as a souvenir from Tokyo. Single sticks are also available (280 yen including tax).

The pâtissier, Nobue Tanaka, whose home in Minowa, Arakawa Ward used to be a small factory that made food stalls, set up a stall in Omote Sando in 2009, where she earned a reputation for the confectionary she sold there. Her Bonbon Caramel Bouquets were popular from the very beginning. After opening a shop in Asakusa in 2012, he also opened a shop in Ginza (Matsuya Ginza).

The idea of putting the chocolate balls on sticks came from items such as candied apples and chocolate-coated bananas sold at temple festivals. The chocolate comes in a combination of eight flavors such as “apricot,” “banana and all-spice” and “blueberry and Calpis,” carefully selected to match the fruit. The nostalgic bittersweet and rich taste fills the mouth.
[Report and photographs: Arisa Hoshi]

The bright red walls of the pâtisserie “Avranches Guesnay” are an eye-catching sight as one walks along Hakusan Dori street in Hongo, Bunkyo Ward. The name of the shop came from Avranches, a town in Normandy, France, and Guesnay, the name of the chef under whom Koji Ueshimo, the owner and chef, trained when he was studying there to be a pâtissier.

All kinds of cakes based on ideas from Normandy are on display in the shop window and the colorful cube shaped “Guimauve” make the ideal souvenir. Guimauve is a French confection resembling marshmallow. Generous amounts of fruit puree are mixed with gelatin until a froth forms and then allowed to solidify. With a fluffy springy texture, the fizziness of the Guimauve as it melts in the mouth is delightful.

There are about eight types of Guimauve with two flavors mixed in a single cube such as “cassis and Darjeeling” and “passion fruit and coconut.” Aya Kono, the pâtissier in charge of Guimauve, recommends “citron vert (lime) and parsley” for its strong refreshing sour taste.

As well as a box of nine in five different flavors (1,296 yen including tax), boxes of 18 and 25 are also available. When the shop is not busy, single cubes in cannisters are available (from 129 yen including tax) while new flavors are announced for White Day every year.
[Report and photographs: Arisa Hoshi]

“Salon Ginza Sabou” is a restaurant that serves confectionary and other food established by the Jun Group, an apparel company in the “Tokyu Plaza Ginza,” a large commercial facility opened in Ginza, Tokyo in 2016. Using only domestically produced rice and tea, as well as Japanese confectionary that goes well with Japanese tea, the restaurant offers items such as Onigiri rice balls and Dashi Chazuke (rice with stock soup) at lunchtime and items such as Obanzai Teishoku, a set of traditional Kyoto-style dishes, in the evening.

A popular confection on the menu is Matcha Parfait served in a 11.5 square centimeter Masu, a small wooden box traditionally used for serving sake. The parfait comes in two types: “Sabou Parfait – Japanese garden style (1,320 yen)” and “Sabou Parfait with strong Matcha (1,540 yen).” The top of the parfait is made with a thin white chocolate layer topped with Matcha powder with a traditional Japanese dry landscape garden motif.

The white chocolate breaks when pressed with a spoon to reveal one of eight or nine types of filling such as Matcha-flavored mascarpone cheese, Matcha ice cream, Matcha jelly, candied chestnut, rice-flour dumplings and coarse red bean paste. The bittersweet balance is exquisite. Brown sugar syrup topping is also available for an extra 200 yen.

“Customers can enjoy our parfait as if they were treasure hunting,” says Yutaka Takahashi of the Salon Business Department. Mr. Takahashi says that a lot of customers from overseas also visit the shop attracted by the idea of “treasure hunting.”
[Report and photographs: Akira Makino]

“Takeno to Ohagi” is located along the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line in Sakura-shinmachi, Tokyo, a place known for “Sazaesan Street.” Formerly a delicatessen owner, Hiroki Ogawa opened “Takeno to Ohagi,” a shop specializing in Ohagi, rice balls coated with sweetened red bean paste, in 2016. The shop sells Ohagi with ingredients such as nuts, coconut and seasonal fruit and vegetables. Inspired by the popularity of these unconventional Ohagi, two years later, Mr. Ogawa opened a second shop approximately 800 meters from Gakugei Daigaku station on the Toyoko Line.

The menu normally consists of seven types of Ohagi. The two standard “Tsubuan (coarse red bean paste” and “Koshian (smooth red bean paste)” types (180 yen including tax) have a lightly sweetened taste that Mr. Ogawa carried on from his grandmother, Takeno, the origin of the shop’s name. The basic ingredients of the five types that change daily (around 300 yen each) are brown rice mixed with glutinous rice and smooth white kidney bean paste. No additives are used to bring out the colors of the ingredients. Customers can have the Ohagi of their choice packed in a Magewappa box (box made of steam-bent wood).

According to Mr. Ogawa, “Just as in a delicatessen where setting a number of items on a plate makes for a colorful presentation, we make our Ohagi based on the image of seven types set in a Magewappa box.”

Colorful order made items such as Ohagi decorated with delicate rose and other flower petals are also available (From nine Ohagi presented in a box made of paulownia for 6,480 yen including tax). At the present time, orders are filled in about one month.
[Report and photographs: Akira Makino]

“JOTARO SAITO” is a kimono brand that offers not only pure silk kimonos, but also kimonos made of materials such as denim and jersey fabric. The café offering original confectionary, a first for JOTARO SAITO, was opened as an addition to the directly managed store on the fourth floor of “Ginza Six,” a commercial complex that opened in 2017.

Ice bars with an unusual diamond shape (from 605 yen including tax) feature a different pattern for each flavor, expressing the world view of the JOTARO SAITO brand that advocates “evolving tradition.”

Wanting to make stylish ice bars, Jotaro Saito, a kimono designer who liked ice candy bars when he a child, remodeled a corner of the dyeing workshop in Kyoto, where the company has its headquarters, into an ice bar factory in 2016. Based on the color schemes and patterns of JOTARO kimonos, the pâtissier produced ice bars through a process of trial and error. Each bar is handmade, frozen and transported from Kyoto to the café. Not only do the bars look attractive, but each has a variety of flavors.

As well the popular “rum and raisin” and “black sesame Matcha and red azuki beans” flavors, the range is also expanded with limited seasonal flavors. Approximately 30 types are available. The ice bars are on the small size, making them easy to eat, with some people eating two. Ice bars in a box with a striped peony pattern, the JOTARO symbol, (350 yen) are recommended for gifts.
[Report and photographs: Akira Makino]