Mar 9, 2018 - 1 min read

Tsuruya Yoshinobu: Confectionary Too Gorgeous to Eat

Famous Kyoto sweets shop since 1803 in Nihonbashi

By Sherilyn Siy

Community writer

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The finished cherry blossom, too beautiful to eat.

Colorful sticks of agar with modern flavors like lavender, jasmine, and chamomile. (Photo: Mitsui Fudosan Staff)

Kochou. Butterfly shaped sweet stuffed with red bean paste. (Photo: Mitsui Fudosan Staff)

The mesmerizing process of shaping a cherry blossom.

Using a tool to suggest a butterfly.

Straining sweet bean paste to suggest a field of rapeseed.

Natane Kinton. A sweet that evokes a field of rapeseed flowers. (Photo: Mitsui Fudosan Staff)

Established in the Edo Period in 1803, Tsuruya Yoshinobu has been making Japan's best traditional sweets (or wagashi) for more than 200 years. It gained fame as the specialty shop in Kyoto that served the ancient Imperial Household as well as the tea ceremony head masters.

Today, you can enjoy the same quality confections at the Nihonbashi shop. An open counter allows you to witness how the wagashi artisan shapes the sweets from lumps of dough and sweet bean paste.

Wagashi is made with wasanbon, a very fine and expensive sugar with hints of butter and honey, resulting in an intricate sweet that melts in your mouth. It is best to slowly enjoy these with green tea.

Wagashi designs are inspired by the seasons so the shop offering changes each month. Aside from these freshly made wagashi, the shop sells beautifully packaged sweets you can give as gifts. They have also expanded into making Western-inspired flavors like agar sticks flavored with chamomile, lavender and jasmine.

Easy access from Exit A7 of Mitsukoshimae Station of the Ginza Line or Hanzomon Line. Head towards COREDO.