Demachi Futaba was founded the year 1823 and has been making Japanese confections (wagashi) using traditional methods ever since.

There are many restaurants and cafés in Gion. This one however, I think is special. First of all, although it is inside an old, traditional

As some of you might already know, I looove wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets). Not only are they super delicious but often also unbelievably pretty and cute♡ I especially love dango and daifuku, but also all kinds of mochi. In Germany I have access to a (compared to Japan) big kitchen with an oven. I used to bake cakes and cookies and just be creative in the kitchen all the time. Even though I don't eat cake much, I love making and especially decorating it. But my dorm ro

I love Japanese traditional sweets (wagashi), especially everything that has to do with mochi and dango. In fact, dango is the first wagashi I ever tried when I visited Japan for the very first time in 2016. When I ate aburi mochi a while ago I noticed for the first time how connected some Japanese sweets are to religious believes or places, which I find quite interesting. So, when I found out about where and how mitarashi dango were invented, I had to go there! (Especially b

Last Sunday, on Februrary 23rd I visited a kofun (ancient burial mound) in Kyoto together with four Japanese people. One of them had been there before and knew a lot. We also visited a few other interesting places which I am going to introduce in this post as well. Koryu-ji Temple At first, before going to the kofun, we visited a famous temple called Koryu-ji Temple 広隆寺. It was founded in 603 and is the oldest temple in Kyoto. Imperial Prince Shotoku Taishi 聖徳太子 (574 – 622) d

About Ichiwa and Aburi-Mochi Ichiwa is a over 1000 years old shop right next to the Imamiya Shrine and therefore the oldest sweets shop in Kyoto. It has been open since Heian-era and specializes in aburi-mochi. "aburi" stands for "grilled" and "mochi" for a rice cake made from glutinous rice powder. As the name suggests, aburi-mochi is a rice cake which has been grilled over hot charcoal after being rolled in kinako (roasted soybean powder) and then coated in a sweet sauce ma