Kawagoe: Penny Candy Alley

One of my favorite parts of Kawagoe was Penny Candy Alley (Kashiya Yokocho) that’s made of small alleyways, old merchant candy shops, and tons of traditional candy and snacks. It has such a great nostalgic feel that makes everyone reminisce about a simpler time. Even my husband ran around like a kid in a candy shop, and with big eyes, he asked me for 100 yen ($1)!

This area used to be one of the biggest producers and suppliers of candy in Japan. It specialized in hand-rolled hard candy with cute designs in the center, which was very popular in Tokyo in the early to mid 1900s. If anyone knows the name of this candy, please fill me in!

*Update: I’ve learned that these hard candies are called Kintaro-ame. This design is of a famous Japanese hero, Kintaro, and it’s been popular since the 1800s. If you’re interested in how it’s made, this is a great video. You can also custom order there with your own design. Great idea for wedding favors!

This area also specializes in sweet potato snacks and desserts. You’ll find many of these yokan for sale. I love the color!

I’ll show you another yummy sweet potato snack tomorrow :)

15 thoughts on “Kawagoe: Penny Candy Alley”

Would love to see a video of how the candy with the face is made, so cool.

tokyohamster

03/20/2013 at 11:34

Hi Norma! I wondered about it too. I found really interesting videos of the process here. It’s very labor intensive!

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- Norma Chang
  
  03/20/2013 at 21:00
  
  Thanks for the videos link, sure is a very labor intensive process that also requires specialized skills.
- tokyohamster
  
  03/21/2013 at 09:27
  
  Thanks for asking about it so I could discover the process for myself too! It’s so amazing that the pattern stays the same after rolling and manipulating it so much. Very creative!

They are really colorful and cute. We sometimes went to this place and bought some food. :)

tokyohamster

03/20/2013 at 11:35

Oh I’m so envious of you that you live so close to the area! I’m dreaming of those sweet potato buns. Are there any other foods in the area that you would recommend?

Reply
- cocomino
  
  03/20/2013 at 17:52
  
  There are many interesting food related to sweet potatoes.
  I like sweet potato ice cream. :)
  
  By the way, these are posts which I wrote about Kawagoe. :)
  http://cocomino.wordpress.com/?s=kawagoe
- tokyohamster
  
  03/20/2013 at 18:11
  
  Ooo I’m heading over to check it out now :) Sweet potato ice cream sounds spectacular!

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I’ve planned to go to Kawagoe a few times but never made it. Maybe next time!

tokyohamster

03/21/2013 at 09:24

That’s what happened to me too! I heard that it gets really hot there in the summer so I think this season is perfect if you can find the time & you’re in Japan!

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