[Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture] What is "Kashiwaya's Usuki Manju" and "Asachakai", one of the three major manju in Japan?

Kashiwaya, headquartered in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture , is a long-established Japanese confectionery store that is well-known both within and outside the prefecture.

In addition to the deliciousness of its sweets, it has built a solid position as a confectionery shop that is loved by the local community, not only because of its deliciousness but also because of the way it takes on various challenges to make people happy with delicious sweets.

This time, I would like to introduce Kashiwaya and the morning tea ceremony sponsored by Kashiwaya.

We hope that you will be attracted to our warm efforts to connect people, which is unique to a community-based store.

Famous sweets in Koriyama City: Thin-skinned manju from the historic Kashiwaya

Kashiwaya, headquartered in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, is a long-established Japanese confectionery store founded in 1852.

In the Japanese calendar, 1852 is the 5th year of Kaei. If you consider that it was in the 6th year of the Kaei era that Perry of the United States Navy visited the coast of Yokosuka City on a black ship, you may be able to appreciate the depth of this history even more.

Kashiwaya's synonymous name is ``usuki-manju.''

Kashiwaya's ``Usuki Manju'' is considered one of the three major manju in Japan

A long time ago, when many travelers came and went on the Oshu Kaido, present-day Koriyama City had a post station (Koriyama-juku) as a transportation hub.

The deliciousness of the thin-skinned manju became a hot topic among travelers, and it became so popular that some people even went out of their way just to try the thin-skinned manju.

In ancient times, thin-skinned manju was used to soothe the fatigue of travelers, and its popularity has not waned in modern times.

It is so popular that if you ask locals, "What is the best souvenir from Fukushima?", there is a high probability that their name will come up. Kashiwaya's thin skin manju a product that is eaten on a daily basis as an offering at Buddhist services, as a modest gift, and as a tea offering when guests come to visit .

As the name suggests, Usuki Manju is characterized by its thin and chewy skin.

Inside the thin skin is a layer of elegant, melt-in-your-mouth strained red bean paste that feels heavy and heavy, giving it a special feel that belies its simple appearance, as if it were the embodiment of ``everyday luxury.'' .

The taste goes well with astringent tea, coffee, and milk.

In recent years, a new lineup of thin skin manju has appeared. Products with a modern twist were sold, such as small bite-sized thin-skinned manju and thin-skinned manju filled with aromatic matcha, and a new history of thin-skinned manju began to be written.

Kashiwaya's spirit of creating sweets that people love has remained unchanged since its founding.

Kashiwaya has a history of over 170 years since its founding, but there are things that have changed to meet the needs of the times, and things that have remained unchanged.

One thing that we have inherited without changing is our philosophy towards making sweets.

Let's protect our sincerity, which is our desire to please others, and our pride in our craftsmanship. This feeling is expressed in the words of the first head of the company.

Shortly after the company was founded, a traveling man came to visit Kashiwaya.

The traveler was at a sweets shop in Joshu (present-day Gunma Prefecture), and one day a medicine seller from Toyama came and ate the manju, and he was told that it was incomparable to the thin-skinned manju of Koriyama.

So I carefully taught him how to make thin-skinned buns, but about a year later he came back.

"I still can't do it well."

"From Joshu. What do you wrap your bean paste with?"

"As you taught me, I wrapped it in the skin I made like that..."

"Ah, that's why we can't make delicious manju. If we don't wrap it with sincerity, we won't be able to please our customers."

The confectioner in Joshu was so moved by these words that he went home nodding his head many times.

 

Source (Kashiwaya official website | Kashiwaya birth story https://www.usukawa.co.jp/about_us/birth_story/ )

This anecdote from the first owner clearly expresses Kashiwaya's approach to making sweets. Kashiwaya has continued to create delicious sweets with the aim of bringing smiles to the faces of those who taste them.

One of the initiatives that was started during the era of the previous 4th generation head of the company, in order to let more people enjoy manju, was the ` `Asachakai.''

Kashiwaya continues its "Morning Tea Ceremony" so that as many people as possible can enjoy sweets.

The morning tea ceremony began as a place for people to socialize and enjoy sweets, tea, and conversation.

It started in 1972 and is held on the 1st of every month except January. There was a time when it was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it resumed in July 2023.

Participation fee is ``free''.

Instead, a condition of participation is that you must be able to greet people in a cheerful manner.

For this reason, on the second floor of the Kashiwaya Main Store, which will be the venue, the enthusiastic voices of staff and participants are heard, such as "Good morning!" and "I'm coming!"

The sweets served at the morning tea ceremony are freshly made, handmade thin-skinned buns and seasonal sweets.

The thin-skinned buns that are normally sold are produced by machines, but the ones served at the morning tea ceremony are carefully finished one by one by craftsmen who have inherited the techniques.

The tea that was served with the sweets was carefully poured by the staff and was truly exquisite.

If you soothe your mood with delicious sweets and tea, your conversation will be even more lively, and the time will pass by in the blink of an eye.

It seems that there are many repeat visitors who look forward to the event every month.

It's great to be able to enjoy delicious sweets for free, but the connections that can only be made here are also special, so why not make time to visit?

In addition to selling standard products, the store on the first floor also sells sweets limited to the morning tea ceremony.

We also recommend choosing snacks and souvenirs while soaking in the afterglow of the morning tea ceremony.

summary

This time, we introduced Kashiwaya, a long-established confectionery store in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, and the morning tea party, a gathering place held by Kashiwaya on the 1st of every month.

It is often said that eating sweets makes your heart melt. By participating in a morning tea party, you may be able to reaffirm the appeal of delicious sweets and the fact that sweets become even more delicious when eaten with others.

Why not join us and think about the dreams of successive heads of the family, and seek out special encounters that can only be had here?

I'm sure you'll have a good start to the month.

Kashiwaya main store <Information>

• Store name: Kashiwaya main store
• Location: 11-8 Nakamachi, Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture
• Phone number: 0242-85-8344
• Business hours: 10:00-19:00
• Official URL: Kashiwaya
• Morning tea party: Held from 6:00 to 8:00 on the 1st of every month except January

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