I am so happy that a local snack comes on the day when Futaba-san's bean daifuku is no longer available. I really miss Futaba-san's bean daifuku... When you crave the taste of the countryside, try looking for it. ♥

I happened to purchase the famous representative bean cakes from Demachi Futaba in Kyoto, which are only sold at Hankyu Umeda Department Store every Thursday. The cakes were elegant and sweet, but I felt they were slightly lacking in saltiness. The taste may have changed a bit due to the transportation process, but it still remains unique and delicious. Thank you for the meal!

They handle a variety of famous local sweets from all over the country, which is convenient because you can purchase them without actually visiting the local area! It's great for buying souvenirs that you forgot to get while you were there. Kamakura Goro Honten's Kamakura Peanuts Hangetsu is a half-moon shaped peanut senbei with a fluffy and light peanut cream sandwiched in between, filled with plenty of fragrant peanuts.

In the B1 floor of Hankyu Umeda Main Store, there is a corner where various sweets from all over the country are lined up. I have purchased the "Hassaku Daifuku" from Toraya Honpo in Hiroshima several times. Inside the skin, there is white bean paste and syrup-pickled hassaku citrus wrapped in the daifuku. The sweetness of the skin and bean paste is strong, while the bitterness of the hassaku citrus stands out. It is recommended to eat it chilled as it becomes soft at room temperature!

Ishijima Shoten is a shop with over 100 years of history located in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture. Their main product is Mizuho Ame. I visited their website and learned that they extract fruit juice from domestic fruits at their own factory, mix it with water agar, sugar, and agar, solidify it, cut it, and wrap it in edible paper. This process requires advanced craftsmanship and is done by hand. The candy is free of additives and fragrances. It is available at department stores nationwide. I purchased Mizuho Ame in a square bag at the "Japanese Confectionery Selection" on the first floor of Hankyu Department Store in Umeda for 486 yen (tax included). It is a rectangular jelly candy that is colorful and beautiful. It contained 20 pieces each of six types: apple, mandarin orange, apricot, grape, plum, and peach. It has a chewy texture and a strong taste and aroma of natural fruit juice. It was very delicious. I was impressed by the fact that they make such high-quality products using only natural ingredients.

I bought sakura bean paste at Hankyu Department Store. The castella dough around it is firm rather than fluffy. It doesn't have a chewy texture, but it has a nice appearance and a strong castella aroma. The sakura bean paste has a strong sakura flavor, making it a great sakura-flavored treat.

I bought a manju (Japanese sweet bun) (^^) It looked like a regular red bean manju, but when I took a bite, it had a fluffy sakura mochi-like fragrance, and when I closed my eyes, it really tasted like sakura mochi (^^) This type of manju is sometimes sold in supermarkets where the skin and red bean paste can be separated, or the red bean paste can be dry, but this one had the skin and red bean paste integrated and the red bean paste was moist and delicious (^^) Overall, the taste was as expected (^^)

Located in the basement of Hankyu Umeda Main Store, this corner offers popular sweets from all over Japan that can be purchased individually. It is easy to navigate as the sweets are displayed by region. I was craving something slightly sweet, so I tried Kamakura Koutani's "Kurumikko." It is filled with plenty of walnuts, and the texture of the walnuts combined with the slightly bitter homemade caramel and butter is delicious!

I bought this sweet potato snack because I remembered how delicious a sweet potato snack from somewhere was in the past. While this sweet potato snack was also delicious, it was different from what I remembered. The name "kenpi" comes from the word "kengashi," which is a hard and crunchy snack from Tosa (Kochi Prefecture). Perhaps that's why sweet potato snacks are called "kenpi." Maybe Kochi is the birthplace of sweet potato snacks. As a sweet potato lover, I quickly finished eating them.