[Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture] Review of the history and taste of Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa's "Shimobashira", a winter illusion created by honeydew

Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa's Shimobashira, which has been a hot topic on social media lately, goes on sale and takes reservations every year in early fall, and before you know it, it's out of stock.It's a masterpiece that has earned it the nickname "Winter Vision."

This time, I would like to review the ``Konoe Honpo Tamazawa no Shimobashira'' that I was miraculously able to purchase, and introduce the history of ``Konoe Honpo Tamazawa''.

What is Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa of “Konoe Honpo Tamazawa no Shimobashira”?

``Shimobashira'' has become a hot topic, but do you know about ``Konoe Honpo Tamazawa''?

In fact, Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa is a long-established tea confectionery shop in Sendai that will be celebrating its 348th anniversary this year (as of 2023).

Originally, in 1675, Tamazawa Denzo came from Omi Province (present-day Shiga Prefecture) in response to an invitation from Date Tsunamura, the fourth lord of the Sendai domain, and moved to Kokubun Town, a commercial center. Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa is said to have started as a confectionery company for the Sendai domain.

that's right. ``Konoe Honpo Tamazawa'' is the ``official confectionery company'' of the Sendai clan.

Tamazawa's representative confectionery, "Konoe"

``Tamazawa'' was explained above, but the ``Konoe'' of ``Konoe Honpo'' is a name given to the court nobles who presented the confectionery they were creating to Emperor Meiji on his visit to Sendai in 1899. This sweet was named ``Konoe'' after the ancient Manyo poem, ``I wonder if the double cherry blossoms in Nara's capital, Kefu, smell in Kokonoe.'' .

This confectionery is still a representative confectionery of Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa, and to this day the store's trade name is ``Konoe Honpo Tamazawa.''

Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa's Frost Bashira

``Konoe Honpo Tamazawa'' is likely to come to mind for Miyagi and Sendai residents, such as ``Konoe,'' ``Yubeshi,'' and ``Shiogama.''

Another representative confectionery of Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa is Shimobashira, which was newly created by Itsuro Omi, the 12th generation owner, about 40 years ago.

“Shimobashira” won the Honorary President’s Award, the highest award, at the 27th National Confectionery Expo held in 2017.

It’s been a few years, no? It will be my first time eating real food in decades.

I remember my grandmother buying it when I was a child.

At the time, the taste was so delicious that people sometimes hid it because they tried to eat it all at once, and the design of the can is now a simple and stylish design, but at the time it looked like a blue and white snowflakes? I remember how it was designed.

When you put it in your mouth, it melts in your mouth, making you feel like you're eating noble cotton candy.

It's not too sweet and has a refreshing taste.

I'm sorry for the bad review, but you can feel each line on the surface of the frosting on your tongue.

By the way, the white powder inside the can is ``Rakugan''.

This is to prevent the delicate frosting from breaking, and although it can be eaten, it is tasteless, so we do not recommend eating it as is.

If you like cooking, it might be a good idea to make some sweets using Rakugan.

Shimobashira is only sold during the winter season.

The production of Shimobashira is a sacred mountain.When frost begins to form at the foot of Zao, the production begins by hand by confectionery artisans, continues from late autumn to early spring while monitoring the weather, and ends with the arrival of full-fledged spring. Therefore, the number and sales period are limited.

I think this is also the reason why it is called "winter illusion".

Every year, reservations on the website and reservations at stores begin around mid-to-late September, and shipping and pick-up at stores begin around late October.

If you are lucky, you may be able to purchase it at the store, but if you want to be sure you can get it, we strongly recommend that you visit the website or contact the store.

In addition, "Shimobashira", which has recently risen in price, can be seen on resale and auction sites.

As the Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa website warns, it is a product for which it is impossible to determine the authenticity or guarantee the quality of the sweets.

Please be careful to use stores and official online shops when making purchases.

"Konoe Honpo Tamazawa" sales store

Fujisaki store [directly managed store]3-2-17 Ichibancho, Aoba-ku, Sendai (Fujisaki Department Store Main Building B1F)TEL. 022-261-5111 (extension 2047)
S-PAL store [directly managed store]1-1-1 Chuo, Aoba-ku, Sendai (JR Sendai Station B1F)TEL. 022-267-4035
Katsura store [Sales store]1-12-1 Katsura, Izumi-ku, Sendai (Green Mart Katsura store 1st floor)TEL. 022-371-3611

INFORMATION

@neft_tohoku I tried Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa's "Shimobashira" for the first time, an extremely rare sweet from Sendai. Crispy and delicious. It will be produced in limited quantities from October to April, and can also be purchased online! #Sendai #Sweets #Shimobashira ♬ Coketime – Official Sound Studio

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