Do you know a black round sweet ball? It is sold in Kyoto only in summer.

Here I introduce you my favorite Japanese sweet cake Wagashi, Ubatama of Wagashi shop in Kyoto, “Kyo-gashi Tsukasa KameyaYoshinaga.”
This is a special cake made only in summer season.

Black sugar flavored red bean paste is wrapped by thin agar-jelly.

Red bean paste is sometimes too sweet for Western people to eat through. Since you have to do a lot of effort to remove the bitterness of red bean, some bad sweet makers try to put a lot of sugar into the red bean paste in order to mask the bitterness by strong sweetness. But this red bean paste is not too sweet.

Sophisticated red bean paste made in this shop is wrapped in translucent agar, so it seems like ice or cold water is wrapping sweet bean paste.

Inside the cake box, there was a sheet with explanation about this Wagashi origin in this Kyo-gashi shop.

【Ubatama】

Do you know the leopard flower? It is also called black spotted iris, and it is called “Hioughi” in Japanese. In late summer this plant bears orange flowers, 4 to 5 cm across, whose eye-catching spots explain its English name.

The shape of its leaves looks like that of “Hioughi,” hand-held fan of Heian period. These were folding wooden fans held by court ladies or aristocrats of the Heian period when formally dressed. That is the reason why they have their Japanese name.

Actually, leopard flower and its leaves are not so famous even for Japanese people.

But its seeds are a bit more famous as a pronoun of real black color in ancient Japanese, called as “Nubatama” color.

In ancient Japanese language, “Nuba” means black, and in fact this is the oldest expression of black color in recorded Japanese language. A ball is called “Tama,” so Nubatama means a black ball in ancient Japanese.

After flowering of leopard flower, a pale-green pod grows up keeping the young berries inside, and as they mature it peels back to reveal a cluster of ripe real black fruits Nubatama.

When ancient Japanese Waka poets described the blackness of a night, or a woman's voluptuous hair, they used this black berries as a beautiful image and put “Nubatama” as a introduction of those night blackness or hair blackness.
This is an example of Waka poem translated : Black berry like black nights will absorb my black hairs into their black world, and my heart will fly through it to my lover’s bed.”

The name of this Japanese cake Ubadama, came from this black berries Nubatama,
Isn’t it interesting to imagine about the ancient Japanese poet might surprise and appreciate to name this cake Nubatama with the highest praise?

“Kyo-gashi Tsukasa Kameya-Yoshinaga”　

East road from Shijo-dori Horikawa, Shimogyoku, Kyoto

Phone: 075-221-2205

There is a branch shop in the Isetan department, at the JR Kyoto station.

To eat this powdered green tea parfait, many people come from various place of Japan "Ito-Kyuemon-Honten"

Ito-Kyuemon in Uji, Kyoto is well known shop for Uji green tea and Maccha, powder green tea flavored sweets.
You need 5 minutes walk from Keihan-Uji station to visit “Ito-Kyuemon-Honten” locating along the big street.
So usually most of the local people will visit the shop by their car.

What a strong and various attractive gravity of many sweets displayed in this house!
No, no, encourage me not to buy every sweets in this shop!

…Thanks, I resisted against the gravity and walked to café area in the right side of front gate ;-).
I ordered "Set of the powdered green tea parfait and this bracken rice cake".

The most popular menu powdered green tea parfait is a little bit smaller than another parfait you see. Probably it’s a half size of USA size.

But do not mind, it means that you can enjoy various kind of sweet dishes in this shop…Oh! I just found that it’s the tactics of this sweets shop ;).

The powdered green tea rice cracker, powdered green tea cream, the powdered green tea jelly, the white rice dumpling, and the red bean paste, everything flavored with the powdered green tea have gotten on up as a topping of the parfait.

In the parfait, the powdered green tea agar, the vanilla ice cream, and the green tea flavored ice cream have been tightly blocked in. The powdered green tea fun comes to want to dance gladly at a glance of it ;-).



You can eat lightly without getting tired on the way even in case of being more in the parfait because no powdered green tea jelly no powdered green tea agar-agar is too sweet completely.

In spite with strong sweetness, It is easy to eat the parfait quickly, because there are strong bitter taste of powdered green tea, which will keep you off from boring with simple sweetness.

This parfait is just an article of the sweetness of pleasant. You will come for another to want to eat instinctively. This is indeed the most popular parfait at the Ito-Kyuemon.

Here is a bracken rice cake cup set with the parfait.




Black honey is garnished to the bracken rice cake. However, even if you do not put black honey on the bracken rice cake, you can eat it delicious. It feels relieved when eating after a cold parfait because this bracken rice cake is a simple, easy taste.

The powdered green tea parfait of Ito-kyuemon was a delicious powdered green tea parfait that did not fail to live up to the expectation like the reputation it. (*^-^*)

By the way, there is green tea counter that can sample favorite Uji tea in the inside of a store, too. Therefore, you can make it to the souvenir by selecting the Uji tea of the taste, and setting powdered green tea sweets sets.



“Ito-Kyuemon Honten, Sabo”Endoh-Aramaki 19-3, Uji
open：10:00～18:30（café L.O.18:00）
regular holiday：none
Phone :0774-23-3993 (Be careful, this is outside of Kyoto city, so you need to push location number 0774 at first when you call from Kyoto city.)

Shop that sells the best traditional confetto candy in Japan "Ryokujuan-Shimizu"

Ryokujuan-Shimizu was established at Kouka 4 (1847), the only one shop for traditional Konpeito, Confetto candy making.
As you know, Confetto candy was originally created in Spain and its making method came to Japan with missionaries during Edo period, and it was at first a special sweets only eaten among aristocrats and high ranked samurai soldiers.
Recipe for Konpeito was not clarified for long time, and Konpeito maker was proud of making Konpeito and presenting it to noble people.


Therefore, expert workmen in Ryokujuan-Shimizu make Konpeito strictly tracing the traditional style spending a few days to make a bowl of confetto candy. The taste of those traditional confetto candies is different from those mass-produced by sweets maker companies.


Once you try a piece of Ryokujuan-Shimizu Konpeito, you will miss it whenever you eat another makers cheap confetto candy.

If you are lucky, you will find seasonal assortment, though regular candies are good enough to taste. I like seasonal or limited assortments, like you ;-).


In March, salty cherry blossoms are used to taste and flavor the confetto candies, it will take your mind to the Hanami season Japanese garden filled with Someiyoshino cherry flowers everywhere.

If it is difficult for you to select the best Konpeito, I recommend you to buy “Cha-Kaiseki” set in the bamboo basket. The bamboo baskets are the top and bottom two steps. There are five kinds of house-chosen confett0 candies that put in the bag in steps above. In basket below, there are five kinds of confett0 candies of limited goods.

It is my pleasure to see the beautiful color, taste and enjoy a variety of flavors. It would be nice for you and your families too.I

love confetto candy of cherry flavor.

Pretty pink colored tiny candy had a faint but lovely flavor and took me to the cherry garden at May fine day I have visited with my dad. This is the rare candy you will not always see it in theshop.

Confett0 candy flavored by brandy, though it is sweet and do not have a smell of alcohol.The brandy Konpeito is in the glass ware with a lid and put into the Washi-made box.

It is surprising that the image of confetti candy is a cheap ordinal candy for children, however, Ryokujuan made it to luxury item for souvenir.

I cannot say you can buy limited item always, but I do recommend you to visit this shop filled with sweet smell of sugar and various fragrance of fruits or herbs, sometimes with liqueurs.

「Ryokujuan-Shimizu」

Sakyoku YosidaIzumitonocho 38-2, Kyoto

open：10:00～17:00（to 18:00 during summer season）

regular holiday：Wednesday

Phone：075-771-0755

Cafe where kyomachiya can be experienced with the cake of powdered green tea "Sankyu-en(three-hill-garden)"

Sankyu-en (three-hill-garden) is a small café restaurant for food or sweets basically arranged by Uji green tea.

Uji city, you know is a small city at south side of Kyoto and it was famous as the resort town where retired aristocrat have their small house in the mountain and live in nature.

The humidified weather of the Uji region made by mist come from Ujigawa river or Kitsugawa river is appropriate for growing tea trees, and now Uji is a representative name of good green tea producing region.

It’s so small but popular restaurant that sometimes foods or sweets would be sold out before evening, but fortunately, when we visit the shop, every popular sweets were sold in the shop, which you can confirm it reading the small signboard set in front of the shop you can find them in above picture.

When you walk into the entrance space, you will find the souvenirs or sweets are sold there, and you can ask employee to go into the café and restaurant space filled with Tatami mat.
It means you have to take off your shoes ;-).

Because the seat where it had faced the courtyard of the café space had just become vacant, we sat there.
Although it was in hot summer, we enjoyed the cool breeze passed by us.

We were reminded the functional construction of an old Kyoto house Machiya, using the benefits of natural weather things like breeze, sun light, sometimes rain for keeping house comfortable.

When you sit down your seats, an employee will come to give you Green-tea flavored snack or chocolates and ordinary green tea Bancha.
It is just like a table charge snack in many of the Japanese bar restaurant Izakaya.
But in this case, it was free or very cheap.

I ordered "Set of the powdered green tea pudding and the green tea" that was one of the signboard menus of three hill garden.
I ordered green tea with ice, it was one of the seasonal tea menu.

You may sometimes feel the Japanese pudding is too soft with low percentage of egg, however, this Maccha (powdered green tea) pudding was really steady and hardened with egg.
The taste of powdered green tea was also very strong that you cannot forget the taste of this Sankyu-en powdered green tea pudding.
I miss it even now writing this article.

In contrast to Maccha pudding, MacchaWarabimochi (powdered green tea flavored bracken rice cake, soft dumpling) was soft and not too sweet, so that you will taste quite contrasted two types of sweets.
You can have a second cup of green tea with ice.

My partner ordered a set of the powdered green tea flavored Warabi soft dumpling and Maccha green tea.

Tanba-Dainagon (red beans) set aside Warabimochi is sweet, soft and tasty.
They are especially large red beans produced in Tanba, north side of Kyoto prefecture.
You fin Koicha in the right of the picture, high concentrated powdered green tea in hot water. This taste bitter, although I love it, you should not choice it if you are not familiar with green tea taste.

It is very comfortable to stay long during afternoon and I was about to sleep, as it is talked about this Japanese style café by a lot of people.

I recommend you to visit not so late in afternoon, before 3:00 p.m. because most of the customers tend to stay long and occupy the space like me ;-).

“San-kyu-en” (three-hill-garden)
Kyotoshi Shimogyoku Ayakojitori Shinmachi Nishi-hairu Yadachou
open:11a.m.～6 p.m.regular holiday: Thursday
Phone: 075-351-3361

The most popular kakigori shop in Kyoto "Saryo Gyokuen"

If you eat kakigori in Kyoto, this is only and the best restaurant I recommend to you.
Saryo-Gyoku-en is the name of the retaurant for sweets and green tea.

You will never forget the taste of kakigori in this restaurant if you try it.
This was quite different from my image of kakigori taste in any other shop or stalls I have experienced.

It is a cup of cotton candy made by ice, brown or green color remind me Barbe a` papa animation ;-).
You may never feel it is ice at first, because you usually have no time lug to feel the soft and silky touched ice melting on your tongue.

If you feel it taste like cotton candy, please talk to the employee in Japanese,
"Kore fuwafuwa de watagashi mitai."
You can look young shy Japanese girl's lovely smile.

My personal best choice is tasted by raw sugar syrup with white gem dumpling, Kuromitsu-Shiratama-Dango.

Raw sugar usually have various kind of taste of sugarcane, they will harmonize the sweetness with sweet milk to make the cotton candy ice supreme.
Quick melting ice is the conductor and the main playor of the harmony, that will keep the sweetness not too strong.

I regret that I am not be able to tell you the lovely taste of this kakigori in accurate manner by only writing and pictures.

White gem dumpling, you will usually find it not soft on ice in ather restaurant, but you can enjoy soft dumpling in this Saryo-Gyokuen.
I do not know the secret of this dumpling softeness in shaved-ice, so please tell me if you can estimate or understand.


This is a cup of Uji-Kintoki, my partner ordered.
Uji is a name of the city at south side of Kyoto and famous as a good pladce for green tea production.

This is the reason why you will find Uji on the top of Japanese foods you will always find they are green tea flavored.
What a strong taste of green tea powder!

It taste like as if you are eating expensive greentea powder directly put into your mouth.
Of course I love its taste, but if you are not familiar with tea ceremony, you should better avoid to try.
It is just like your first trial to taste espresso coffee ;-).


You know, whennever you eat kakigori in many other restaurant in Japan, you will sometimese shaved ice are aggrigated in the bottom of the cup, but you will never find such a situation here.
Why? Because you will eat it much faster than any other kakigori, I promise.


In anyway, kakigori ice in Gyokuen is soft, quick melting, and gentle to your mouth and stomach.
Although you must be patient for waiting ten minutes or so to look your cup after your order, it is clear that you will find a surprising experience of Japanese taraditonal taste those was popular in 60's, my friend talked to me.
It may be your first experience, but you may think this is the experience you met in your child memory lost in long days ago.

You must try it in hot humidified Kyoto summer.

Saryo Gyokuen
North end of Pontocho street, Kyoto
open from 14:00 to 21:30
regular holiday Thursday
Phone: 81-75-231-8353 (231-8353 in Kyoto city)