Blending caramel and jam, new Japanese sweets are art for five senses

Time-honored wagashi shops seek to revitalize ancient art

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The Antonio and Lara wagashi confection takes its name from a Hans Christian Andersen novel. The black one is covered with burned caramel. The yellow one uses mango and passion fruit jam. (Photo by Akira Takemura)

MAKIKO TAKAKURA, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- Call it the nouvelle vague of wagashi: A handful of time-honored makers of traditional Japanese sweets -- small, craftmanship-obsessed confectioneries that typically work with simple ingredients such as bean paste and rice cake -- is seeking to open a new frontier for the art.

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