I crossed the Sumida River and took a stroll around Ryogoku area. I came across some sumo wrestler rice crackers and decided to try them out. The rice crackers had prints of sumo wrestlers on them and were surprisingly hard with a strong soy sauce flavor. They were quite satisfying and delicious, but they were a bit too hard.

While I was out for a stroll, I stumbled upon a shop and decided to go in. They were known for their sumo wrestler senbei, so I ended up buying just the senbei this time. Each piece was individually wrapped, with a sumo wrestler printed on the packaging. When I opened it, I could taste a strong soy sauce flavor. The senbei was quite hard. It felt like it had been a while since I last had senbei! When I crunched into it, I felt a stimulating sensation in my brain. I enjoyed biting into the senbei, using my teeth to really crunch on it. I was relieved that my teeth were still strong! For those who like hard senbei with a rich soy sauce flavor, I would recommend this. It has that old-fashioned senbei feel to it! I really liked it! Crunching on it might even help relieve some stress, it seems!

It is located on the first floor of a building down a small path straight from Ryogoku Station along the Kokugikan. The large Yokozuna senbei has a satisfying taste! The calm atmosphere is nice, making it a typical downtown senbei shop.

This is a senbei (rice cracker) shop located on the 1st floor of an apartment near Kuramae Bridge East. I was drawn in by the name "Sumo Senbei" and the sign with a sumo wrestler's picture, so I decided to stop by. The selection is quite basic, with a variety of hand-baked senbei available, some made in-house and others from elsewhere. I purchased a set of 6 hand-baked senbei and some "Kyusuke" for my sons' snacks. Kyusuke comes in flavors like coarse sugar, soy sauce & sesame, soy sauce & matcha sugar, and rice crackers. Senbei shaped like sumo wrestlers are priced at ¥70, while the larger "Yokozuna" size is ¥300. The flavors were as expected, but the soy sauce senbei shaped like sumo wrestlers would make a great souvenir from Ryogoku. Both this shop and Mochiyoshi sell a senbei assortment called "Kyusuke." I wondered why, so I searched and found various theories, which I won't repost but you can find at the following URL: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%85%E5%8A%A9

A few days ago, I asked M-kun if he wanted to go to Shitamachi together on our next day off. However, while watching TV at home, I saw news about the Fuji Festival at Kameido Tenjin Shrine. Mama-chan was also excited about the idea of going to see the wisteria flowers, so we decided to change our plans to include Ryogoku, Kinshicho, and Kameido. M-kun was dragged along without much choice. Today's itinerary included walking from Ryogoku Station to Maeda Shoten (to buy sumo senbei as souvenirs), then to Kappo Yoshiha (to have chanko nabe for lunch), followed by a visit to Funabashiya (to try the original kuzumochi), and then to Kameido Tenjin Shrine to admire the wisteria flowers. We then walked to the Keiyo Highway at the south exit of Kameido Station, and continued on foot towards Kinshicho along the Keiyo Highway. At Kinshicho Station, we visited Yamadaya (to buy ningyo-yaki as souvenirs) and Kameido Gyoza Ryogoku Store (to eat gyoza), before taking the train back to Ryogoku Station. When I told M-kun about the plans, he was not thrilled about all the walking involved, but I insisted that it was good exercise. We started our journey from Ryogoku Station and made our way to Maeda Shoten, a shop known for its hand-baked sumo senbei. The shop, which has been around since the Showa era, offers a variety of flavors including zaramae, nori, sesame, and shichimi. The senbei are baked for three hours every morning and have a firm texture. In addition to senbei, they also offer zaramae, nori, sesame, and shichimi senbei, all worth trying!