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“yuichi.sakuraba” some rights reserved. flickr

These days, internationally popular items such as pancakes and doughnuts are very popular in Japan. Nevertheless, we still love those traditional Japanese sweets called “wagashi”. Wagashi are not only delicious, but are also healthy (low-fat/low-calorie). Today I would like to tell you about the five most popular wagashi sweets among Japanese people.

1) Daifuku
Small round mochi rice cake stuffed with sweet red bean paste called “anko” or “an”. It comes in lots of varieties. As a well known modern style daifuku, there is “ichigo daifuku” that has a fresh strawberry (sometimes with whipped heavy cream) hidden in it.

“Mokiko – Bohnenhase” some rights reserved. flickr

2) Dorayaki
Flat, round, UFO-looking confection consisting of sweet red bean paste sandwiched between two small pancakes. Dorayaki is the favorite food of the world famous Japanese manga character, Doraemon!

“yuichi.sakuraba” some rights reserved. flickr

3) Dango
Dumplings made with rice flour. These come topped with many varieties of glaze/topping. (ex. sweet red bean paste, sesame seed glaze, sweet say sauce glaze etc.)

“[puamelia]” some rights reserved. flickr

Mitarashi dango (sweet soy sauce glaze)

4) Yokan
A bar of sweet jellied adzuki‐bean (sometimes sweet potato) paste. There is also a kind called “mizu (water) yokan” which is perfect for a dessert on a hot summer day.

“[puamelia]” some rights reserved. flickr

Mizu Yokan

5) Manju
Sweet red bean paste wrapped in a soft shell made from various kinds of flour. Most tourist spots carry their original manju as souvenirs.

“yuichi.sakuraba” some rights reserved. flickr

Momiji (Japanese maple leaf) manju

You can find wagashi very easily, even at convenience stores in Japan. And fancy Wagashi would be perfect as a small gift to take with you when you visit your friends in Japan. And also it could be great as a souvenir for your family. Unfortunately, in most cases, wagashi doesn’t stay fresh for many days and has to be kept in a cool place. But vacuum-packed yokan can stay fresh for quite a while. Don’t forget to check on the expiration date if you plan to take it to your home country! 😉

Source: My Navi Woman

Author: Junko

This is JAPAN Style!