I am a big fan of traditional Japanese sweets, especially when served with green tea. They are typically made from natural ingredients, many of which are plant-based. (和菓子)
I often see numerous varieties at the supermarket but I don’t know many of them so I usually buy the same 2 or 3.
However, over the past year I have been very lucky because one of my students at Smiths School of English in Fuse is… the owner of a traditional Japanese sweets shop and she has introduced me to many new varieties.
(和菓子 布施)
She often comes to class with a small bag of treats for me and the other part-time teacher working with me.
Each of them is carefully hand-made and fresh. She always tells me the name and what ingredients it’s made of.
Some of my favorites are daifuku ( 大福餅 ), which means “great luck”, ichigo-daifuku ( イチゴ大福 ) which contains strawberry, yukimi daifuku ( 雪見だいふく) which contains various flavors of ice cream, manju ( 饅頭 ), dango ( 団子 ), warabi mochi ( 蕨餅 )and sakura mochi ( 桜餅 ) which is a sweet pink rice cake covered with a sakura leaf (cherry blossom), just like the picture. (和菓子)
I am very lucky to have a wagashi expert as one of my students at Smiths School of English in Fuse. (和菓子 布施)
Because of her, I have been able to learn about many traditional Japanese sweets.
If you have not tried traditional Japanese sweets, I highly recommend you do!
Healthy and tasty!
I am especially looking forward to the New Year’s time in Japan ( 正月 )when we have a good chance to try several traditional Japanese sweets as well as traditional Japanese New Year’s dishes.
For my Smiths School of English Fuse students if you are interested to try some excellent traditional Japanese sweets, I recommend you visit my favorite wagashi shop in Higashi Osaka, Fuse. (和菓子 布施)
The name is 恵美寿堂翠庵 located at 大阪府 東大阪市 高井田 西1丁目12-4 and here is a link to a map to help you find the store.
Thank you,
Alessandro “Alex” Stanciu
アレッサンドロ“アレックス”スタンシュー
Smith’s School of English Horie/Yotsubashi
月謝制 の スミス 英会話 堀江 校 / 四ツ橋 校
http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/horie.shtml 大阪 市 英会話
Smith’s School of English Fuse
月謝制 の スミス 英会話 布施 校
http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/fuse.shtml 英会話 東大阪市
Edward says
Alex,
Nice picture! Looks delicious. I’d love to try some of those sweets, maybe next time I’m in Osaka we can meet for coffee and try a few.
Edward, SSE Ohtsu