A Touch of Beautiful Seasonal Wagashi at Kotobori near Toji Temple

Leaf KYOTO Store information Enjoy beautiful seasonal Japanese sweets at Kotonoha near Toji Temple

2022.12.18

Seasonal Kyo Wagashi (Japanese confectionery): 290 yen each. Clockwise from top right: Hane-usagi with smooth sweet bean paste. The chrysanthemum flower fire that reminds us of the departing summer and the coming of autumn. Peony wrapped in white bean paste with lemon juice-scented han-nishikidama-jyokan. Mukohai hollyhock with kabocha kinton (pumpkin kinton) finished without coloring. Otoshibumi (drop pattern), a traditional motif. Ripe persimmon thrilled by raisin red bean paste with almonds.

Enjoy beautiful seasonal Japanese sweets at Kotonoha near Toji Temple

While raising her two children, she releases 10 varieties of seasonal Kyo wagashi every month. Ms. Nishino works hard at her studio and store near Toji Temple. What inspired her to become a wagashi chef was a wagashi experience on a school excursion. As a junior high school student, she says that the place she experienced was Kameya Ryoucho, where she spent eight years until she decided to set up her own business.

waka (classic Japanese poem, esp. a tanka)

I wanted to become a craftsman after being exposed to wagashi," he said! He set a goal of having his own store by the age of 30 and set up a small workshop in Karabashi, Minami Ward in 2019. He relocated last year and now has a growing fan base nationwide.

Ayaka Nishino, the owner. Born in Chiba Prefecture. After working at a Japanese confectionery in her hometown of Chiba and at a food manufacturer in Tokyo, she became a craftsman at Kameya Ryoucho in Kyoto.

It is thanks to instant freezing that I am able to run everything by myself, from development, production, and sales to delivery arrangements. He applies the knowledge he learned while working for a food manufacturer in Tokyo to wagashi. If you freeze them as soon as they arrive, they have a shelf life of about 20 days, and you can enjoy a variety of wagashi by defrosting them little by little," he said, arranging the beautiful wagashi.

［Kameya Ryoucho's original Japanese confectionery, Kaiawase monaka, based on its signature confectionery, Karasuwadama, is 180 yen each. The walnut one is made with mashed bean paste, and the keshi nut one with koshi-an (sweetened with brown sugar).

Nowadays, he spends more and more time inventing new works for tea ceremonies. I think that if you don't have something that makes people excited, they won't enjoy your work. I don't want to stay in the same place. Even if it looks traditional at first glance, it may have a baked sweet potato filling or a raisin filling. The wagashi of artisans who continue to take on new challenges are filled with the spirit of Kyoto, where the old and the new coexist.

waka (classic Japanese poem, esp. a tanka)

waka (classic Japanese poem, esp. a tanka)
59, Nishi-Kujo Hinagajo-cho, Minami-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
5 min. walk from Toji Station on the Kintetsu Line
14 min. walk from "Kujo" subway station.
Tel. 075-662-5275
12:00 - 16:00
Irregular holidays
No parking
http://kotonoha-wagashi.com/
Eat-in not allowed

*Please note that the information contained herein is subject to change without notice.
*Since this site uses automatic translation, the translation may differ from the original Japanese content.

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