I walked into a shop selling Japanese sweets made in Kyoto and had matcha tea with sakura mochi, a rice cake stuffed with bean paste and wrapped in a leaf. Although there were several choices I could have picked from, the popularity of sakura mochi is hard to ignore.
This mochi uses refined Japanese sugar. If you simply use white sugar, it only takes an hour to make. With Japanese refined sugar, however, it takes an incredible five days to make this type of sweet by hand.
This careful process, paired with azuki bean paste really brings out the sweet taste. These ingredients fill the air with the refined smell of delicious sweets. This humble process is what sets this sweet apart from others.
I walked into Oimatsu shop in Kyoto and spent a leisurely afternoon sipping tea and eating sweets.