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Kaori Manabe Samples
Original Confections Designed for Tokyo Tokyo
by the Prestigious Ginza-district Store WAKO! - Confectionary from Tokyo as
Gifts that are Sure to Please! - Original Confections Designed for Tokyo Tokyo
by the Prestigious Ginza-district Store WAKO - A Tokyo Original!
Theory of Evolution of Japanese-style Shortcake
Colombin and Fujiya - History Seminar on Wagashi
with its Roots in Edo -
I Love sweet things!
Shibatayama sumo-stable master tastes and compares
“The Three Big Dorayki of Tokyo” - Tokyo Sweets in Shops Designed
by Globally Renowned Architects - Tokyo Confections
that “look good” - I love Anko sweet azuki bean paste,
the basis of Japanese Sweets! - Tokyo Confectionary that was
Popular with Great Writers
~ Soseki, Ogai, Akutagawa ~
Old meets New—
Nowhere in the world will you find a city
that offers so many varieties of
confectionary as “Tokyo”
Old meets New—
Nowhere in the world
will you find a city
that offers so many varieties of
confectionary as “Tokyo”
Tasting “confectionary” is a joy shared by the world that goes beyond language and ethnic barriers. The cultures of traditional Japanese confectionary that has been in existence since the Edo period and Western confectionary that has evolved from the Meiji period have taken root in Tokyo and given birth to a vast diversity of confectionaries that are at the top level in the world. Tokyo is truly “The Sweetest City” in the world.
“The Sweetest City, Tokyo” project is a series of reports that give a comprehensive introduction to the “confectionary” of Tokyo from traditional well-known confections that continue to be enjoyed today to the latest confections that have evolved over time while still retaining their historical roots.
Latest
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Vol.10
Kaori Manabe Samples
Original Confections Designed for Tokyo Tokyo
by the Prestigious Ginza-district Store WAKO!Kaori Manabe Samples
Original Confections
Designed for Tokyo Tokyo
by the Prestigious
Ginza-district Store WAKO!Part II
About one month has passed since two pastry chefs at WAKO, the prestigious store in Tokyo's Ginza district, completed original confections which they christened “Cake Kinako” and “Ruby Shortcake.” Both of these treats have reportedly been given high marks by many people who stroll the Ginza and drop in at the WAKO Annex Cake & Chocolate Shop, which is selling them. In Part I of this special feature, we presented everything from prototype-product tastings to final product completion. No doubt many of you are wondering how these new items taste and want to learn about them in more detail. For Part II, we therefore asked celebrity Kaori Manabe to sample Cake Kinako and Ruby Shortcake. Part II begins with commentary by the pastry chefs Takahiro Matsume and Ryohei Oguma, who were in charge of the production of these respective treats, followed by Manabe's specific remarks on their features and flavors upon actually eating them.
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Special -
InterviewVol.9
Confectionary from Tokyo
as Gifts that are Sure to Please!Matsuya Onoe [Kabuki actor]
Yukari Yoshihara [Professional Igo player]
Hisafumi Iwashita [Writer]Giving confectionary as gifts automatically sparks lively conversation. We talked to three celebrities active in the world of traditional culture about Tokyo confectionary that is “a joy to receive” and “sure to please as a gift.”
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Vol.8
Original Confections Designed for Tokyo Tokyo
by the Prestigious Ginza-district Store WAKOOriginal Confections Designed
for Tokyo Tokyo
by the Prestigious
Ginza-district Store WAKOPart I
"The Sweetest City, Tokyo" serial project explores the various confections of Tokyo, covering everything from famous selections of past eras whose traditions have been preserved to this day, through to new varieties based on constant innovation that never forgets historical roots. As a grand conclusion to this sweeping project, we secured the full cooperation of the historic and prestigious Ginza-district store WAKO to create unique confections just for Tokyo Tokyo, to be sold at their shop. The following is a look at what we and the WAKO professionals came up with. Part I of this special feature covers everything from prototype-product tastings through to final product completion.
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Special -
ColumnVol.7
A Tokyo Original!
Theory of Evolution of Japanese-style Shortcake
Colombin and FujiyaA Tokyo Original!
Theory of Evolution
of Japanese-style Shortcake
Colombin and FujiyaWhen we think of “shortcake,” the image that comes to mind is of a cake made of cream sandwiched between layers of sponge and topped with a strawberry. Although we tend to think of this as true all over the world, apparently, this style of cake is unique to Japan. How did this shortcake, a type of confectionary supposedly of western origin, come into being and gain popularity? We asked two leading shops that go as far as referring to shortcake as a “national cake” about the history of shortcake and its present form.
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Vol.6
History Seminar on Wagashi
with its Roots in EdoMana Mikura [Actress]
Mitsuo Yabu
[Managing Director of the Japan Wagashi Association]We tend to eat Wagashi in our daily lives without a second thought. A venture into the history of Wagashi reveals a profound expansive world. Actress Mana Mikura, a fan of Wagashi, and Mitsuo Yabu, Managing Director of the Japan Wagashi Association and authority on Wagashi, talk about the appeal of Wagashi and “The Sweetest City, Tokyo.”
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Special Talk -
InterviewVol.5
I Love sweet things!
Shibatayama sumo-stable master tastes and compares
“The Three Big Dorayki of Tokyo”I Love sweet things!
Shibatayama sumo-stable master
tastes and compares
“The Three Big Dorayki of Tokyo”Stable Master Shibatayama
[Shibatayama sumo-stable coach/62nd Yokozuna (Sumo Grand Champion), Onokuni]Dorayaki, a confection known for its familiarity and simple taste, is often given as a gift that brings harmony. This wonderful “partner” that enlivens communication is especially common as a popular item found in abundance in long-established shops in downtown Tokyo. This time, we did a closeup on Usagiya (Ueno), Kameju (Asakusa) and Kuromatsu Honpo Sogetsu (Higashi Jujo), the shops that make the “The Three Big Dorayki of Tokyo!” Shibatayama sumo-stable master, who is known to have a really sweet tooth, tried and compared the three types and talked about the appeal of each.
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Vol.4
Tokyo Sweets in Shops Designed
by Globally Renowned ArchitectsKengo Kuma, Toyo Ito, Kenzo Tange and nendo
In 21st-century Tokyo, shops designed by globally active Japanese architects, offering unique sweets to customers, are being built one after the next. We selected three of these new sweets-and-tourism destinations to introduce to our readers.
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ColumnVol.3
Tokyo Confections that
“look good”Confectionary must not only taste good, but also look good! Probably due to the spread of SNS, there are countless confections that people can enjoy looking at before trying. We looked at the latest confections that “look good” from around Tokyo and photographed them with a Smartphone.
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Vol.2
I love Anko sweet azuki bean paste,
the basis of Japanese Sweets!I love Anko
sweet azuki bean paste,
the basis of Japanese Sweets!Nozomu Hayashi
[Writer and scholar of Japanese literature]
Hiromi Kawata
[Freelance announcer]“Anko” sweet azuki bean paste is an essential ingredient of Japanese confections such as “Daifuku,” a soft round rice cake stuffed with sweet azuki bean paste, “Yokan,” sweet jellied azuki bean paste and “Odango,” sweet azuki bean paste dumplings. While it is a simple ingredient made with azuki beans, sugar and salt, elements such as how the astringency of the beans is removed and the amount of water used make a difference to the end result, so that one hundred cooks would produce one hundred different types of Anko. We asked Nozomu Hayashi, a writer who has a great love of Anko, and Hiromi Kawata, a freelance announcer, about their passion for Anko.
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Interview -
ColumnVol.1
Tokyo Confectionary that was
Popular with Great Writers
~ Soseki, Ogai, Akutagawa ~Some of Japan’s greatest writers loved Tokyo confectionary. Many distinguished writers seem to have had a sweet tooth and were attracted by the appeal of certain confections, the unchanging taste of which they could enjoy at long-established confectioners. These writers who appear moody and hard to please in the photographs may have worn a different expression with confectionary in front of them. Here, we take a look at the relationship between great writers and Japanese confectionary and some of their favorite items.
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