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Enjoying Kyogashi, the Traditional Sweets of Kyoto
Kyoto City Tourism Association
Kyogashi sweets express the distinctive motifs of each season of Japan in beautiful shapes and hues. Here is a short introduction to the history and variety of these desserts:
"Namagashi" is the collective term for fresh sweets that are made primarily with sweet bean paste. The term is used to differentiate them from higashi (dry sweets). Namagashi sweets include mochigashi (rice cake sweets), mushigashi (steamed sweets), manju (dumpling sweets), yokan (semi-hard bean jelly), and others. Kyogashi developed along with chanoyu (tea ceremony), and namagashi sweets are usually served with koicha (thick matcha green tea) in more formal tea gatherings. The flavors are said to be beautiful and sublime, and these sweets are abundant in variety as well as poetic names given by confectioners and tea masters.
How to get there
Kyoto Station is about 24 minutes from Shin-Osaka Station and about 1 hour and 20 minutes from Kansai International Airport.
Higashishiokoji Kamadono-cho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto-fu
