The administrator of this site will introduce you to some recommended Japanese confectionary stores in Tokyo.
Japanese confectionary stores that we particularly recommend
浅草亀十(台東区)- ¥999 Asakusa Kamejyu (Taito-ku) Asakusa / Japanese sweets, dorayaki, daifuku One of the three most popular dorayaki shops in Tokyo, with a constant stream of customers. The Matsukaze, made with brown sugar, is also popular. |
大心堂雷おこし(台東区)¥1,000 – ¥1,999 Taisindo Kaminariokoshi (Taito-ku) Shin-Okachimachi / Japanese sweets / Kaminariokoshi This long-established confectionary shop has been making only okoshi since it was founded, and it is also suitable for giving as gifts for celebratory or Buddhist occasions. |
うさぎや(台東区)- ¥999 Usagiya (Taito-ku) Shin-Okachimachi, Naka-Okachimachi / Japanese sweets, dorayaki One of the three best dorayaki in Tokyo. As the product does not keep for long, it is only sold in the store. Kisaku monaka is also recommended. |
桃六(中央区)- ¥999 Momo-roku (Chuo-ku) Takaracho, Kyobashi / Japanese sweets, dorayaki Dorayaki is famous. It is known that Ms. Mitsuko Mori and Mr. Ninomiya of Arashi distributed it as a gift. |
塩瀬総本家(中央区)- ¥999 Shiose Sohonke (Chuo-ku) Shintomicho, Tsukiji / Japanese sweets, manju This long-established shop was presented with a signboard by Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the first manju maker in Japan. The shop’s signature product is the Shiose manju. |
清寿軒(中央区)- ¥999 Seijyuken (Chuo-ku) Kodenmacho, Ningyocho, Bakuroyokoyama / Japanese sweets, dorayaki One of Tokyo’s most popular dorayaki shops. The balance between the honey-filled, baked dough and rice cake is exquisite. |
空也(中央区)¥1,000-¥1,999 Kuuya (Chuo-ku) Ginza / Japanese sweets / monaka Kuuya monaka are extremely popular as a gift and are all made in-house at the Ginza store. |
木挽町よしや(中央区)¥1,000 – ¥1,999 Kobiki-cho Yoshiya (Chuo-ku) Higashi-Ginza / Japanese sweets, dorayaki A Japanese sweets shop with a 100-year history that stands in the back alley of the Kabuki-za Theater. The popular dorayaki (Japanese pancake) is by reservation only. |
日本橋 長門(中央区)¥1,000 – ¥1,999 Nihonbashi Nagato (Chuo-ku) Nihonbashi, Tokyo / Japanese sweets / Kuzumochi Served as a confectioner to the Edo shogunate, and was given the title of Matsuoka Nagato Dajo Fujiwara Shinkichi. Kuzumochi is famous. |
銀座鈴屋 銀座本店(中央区)¥1,000 – ¥1,999 Ginza Suzuya Ginza Honten (Chuo-ku) Shinbashi / Japanese sweets, chestnut sweetened beans The shop’s signature sweet, Kuri-amanatto (chestnuts and sweet red beans), is beautiful to look at and makes a great gift. The shop has 20 branches in the Tokyo area. |
萬年堂 本店(中央区)¥1,000 – ¥1,999 Mannendo Honten (Chuo-ku) Higashi-Ginza / Japanese sweets Founded in Kyoto’s Sanjo district in the Genna era, it moved to Tokyo when the capital was relocated there. Its famous confectionery “Omideto” is popular. |
御菓子司塩野(港区)- ¥999 Okashi-tsukasa Shiono (Minato-ku) Akasaka, Tameike-sanno, Akasaka-mitsuke / Japanese sweets, dorayaki, monaka A famous shop that has been loved in Akasaka for over 70 years. Its dorayaki and monaka are popular and are often used as gifts. |
麻布昇月堂(港区)¥1,000-¥1,999 Azabu Shogetsudo (Minato-ku) Hiroo / Japanese sweets The single-sheet Azabu Anmitsu Yokan is as beautiful as a jewel box. The other Japanese sweets are also delicious. |
松島屋(港区)- ¥999 Matsushima-ya (Minato-ku) Izengakuji, Shirokane-Takanawa / Japanese sweets, daifuku One of the three most popular daifuku shops in Tokyo, with long queues of customers. The chestnut steamed yokan (sweet) is only available in autumn, and you must make a reservation. |
新生堂(港区)¥1,000-¥1,999 Shinshodo (Minato-ku) Shinbashi, Uchisaiwaicho / Japanese sweets, monaka, daifuku, dorayaki The “Seppuku Monaka” (monaka filled with sweet bean jam) is so famous that many businessmen buy them as gifts to apologize for something. |
虎ノ門 岡埜栄泉(港区)- ¥999 Toranomon Okano Eisen (Minato-ku) Toranomon Hills, Toranomon, Kamiyacho / Japanese sweets, daifuku, dorayaki The mame daifuku are a firm favorite as a gift or to take to someone as a gift, and the chestnut manju, waffles and dorayaki are also delicious. |
菓匠 菊家(港区)- ¥999 Kakusho Kikuya (Minato-ku) Omotesando / Japanese sweets Kuniko Mukoda was known to be a fan of this shop, and it also receives many inquiries from department stores and hotels. |
瑞穂(渋谷区)- ¥999 Mizuho (Shibuya-ku) Omotesando, Meijijingumae / Japanese sweets One of the three most famous bean-jam rice cakes in Tokyo. It is heavy in the hand, and the balance between the softness of the rice cake and the bean jam filling is exquisite. |
新宿追分だんご本舗(新宿区)¥1,000 – ¥1,999 Shinjuku Oiwake Dango Honpo (Shinjuku-ku) Shinjuku 3-chome / Japanese sweets The dango that Ota Dokan requested in the Takaiido area became Oiwake dango (Shinjuku Oiwake dango) over time. |
廣尾 瓢月堂 中目黒本店(目黒区)¥2,000 – ¥2,999 Hiroo Hyogetsudo Nakameguro Honten (Meguro-ku) Nakameguro / Japanese-Western fusion Japanese sweets High-class Japanese-Western fusion sweets. The shop’s signature product, “Mubyosokusai”, is perfect as a gift. |
群林堂(文京区)- ¥999 Gunrindo (Bunkyo-ku) Gokokuji / Japanese sweets / Daifuku One of the three most famous daifuku bean-jam sweets in Tokyo. It is also known as a shop loved by literary greats such as Yukio Mishima and Seicho Matsumoto. |
香風(世田谷区)- ¥999 Koufuu (Setagaya-ku) Soshigaya Okura / Japanese sweets It is known that Yujiro Ishihara and the haiku poet Teijo Nakamura were patrons of this shop. The bean-filled daifuku mochi is particularly famous. |
西河製菓店(世田谷区)- ¥999 Nishikawa Confectionery (Setagaya-ku) Futakotamagawa / Japanese sweets A popular handmade Japanese sweets shop in Futakotamagawa. The bean daifuku are a must-have, but you’ll have to get there early to get some. |
ニコニコ家 御菓子司(世田谷区)- ¥999 Niko-Niko Ya Okashi-tsukasa (Setagaya-ku) Setagaya Line Kamimachi / Japanese sweets A popular local shop. The Niko Niko Maki, which contains walnuts and white bean paste, is a specialty, and the bean daifuku and manju are also popular. |
黒松本舗草月(北区)- ¥999 Kuro Matsu Honpo Sogetsu (Kita-ku) Higashi Jujo / Japanese sweets, dorayaki One of the three most popular dorayaki shops in Tokyo, with long lines of customers. Awarded a gold prize at the 15th National Confectionary Exposition. |
If the administrator had to choose one shop,
I often get asked “Which Japanese sweets shop makes the best Japanese sweets?”, partly because I like Japanese sweets.
Japanese sweets are a traditional part of Japanese culture, and it would be presumptuous for someone like me to say “this is the best”, so when I get asked this question, I usually reply “this shop’s sweets suit my tastes”.
At the moment, my favorite wagashi shop is Shogetsudo in Azabu.
Not only is the shop’s signature product, “Ichimairyu Azabu Anmitsu Yokan”, delicious, but you can be sure of a great experience no matter what you choose to eat.
Azabu Shogetsudo: 4-22-12 Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Types of Japanese sweets and the history of their development
Types of Japanese sweets
The types of Japanese sweets are generally classified according to their water content.
“Nama-gashi”… those with a water content of 30% or more
Because they have a high water content, they do not keep for long, and a short shelf life is set for them (e.g. ohagi, dorayaki, sakuramochi, kintsuba).
“Han-nama-gashi”: 10-30% moisture content
They last longer than fresh sweets, so they are also recommended as a gift (monaka, yokan, gyuhi, etc.).
“Higashi”…10% or less water content
Of the three types, these have the lowest water content and the longest shelf life, so they are easy to store (hinamochi, okoshi, senbei, kompeito, etc.).
There is also a way of classifying wagashi into ‘asanamagashi’ and ‘jonamagashi’.
Asanamagashi are fresh wagashi eaten on the day they are made, and most of the familiar fresh wagashi, such as kusa-mochi, daifuku and dango, are asashigashi.
Asanamagashi are made in the morning by wagashi shops with the hope that they will be eaten on the same day, hence the name.
On the other hand, the most typical examples of Uwamagashi, which reflect the beauty of each season, are ren-kiri and other sweets, and many of them can be enjoyed for 2 to 3 days.
Some Japanese sweets taste better after a certain amount of time has passed since they were made.
Baked sweets such as chestnut manju and sponge cake manju are even tastier the day after they are made. This is because the seeds and bean paste have had time to blend together, and in the confectionary industry this is referred to as “good recovery”.
Greatly developed through its relationship with the tea ceremony
Until the Heian period, sweets were made to be offered to the imperial court, but it was the tea ceremony that led to the development of delicate, beautiful, artistic Japanese sweets.
The tea ceremony was popular with the warlords of the Warring States period, and it was also used as a strategic venue for them.
In the Muromachi period, Sen no Rikyu perfected the wabi-cha style of tea ceremony, and Japanese sweets also developed along with the popularity of the tea ceremony.
Japanese sweets became popular in the Edo period
As the world became more peaceful and the economy developed during the Edo period, the amount of sugar imported increased, and people were able to focus more on making sweets, leading to a dramatic development in Japanese sweets.
It was also during this period that unique Japanese sweets were born in castle towns and temple towns all over Japan, and Kyoto’s Kyoto sweets and Edo’s Uwagashi competed with each other, with one after another of these ingenious Japanese sweets being created.
Many of the Japanese sweets we eat today were born in the Edo period.
There are delicious Japanese sweets in castle towns
I have traveled all over Japan for work and pleasure, and from that experience I have personally felt that there are many delicious Japanese sweets shops in castle towns.
Recently, touring castles has become a popular pastime, so when you go to see a castle, please be sure to visit a Japanese sweets shop in the castle town.
I’m sure you’ll find some delicious Japanese sweets.