WAGASHI's MONSTER" made by a long-established Japanese sweets shop established 120 years ago "Beloved Monster!" Available only for Valentine's Day and White Day!

Inahoen, a Japanese confectionery established in Gifu for over 120 years (head office: Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture; representative: Kentaro Nakata), will release a new Japanese confectionery, "Beloved Mon! will be available for Valentine's Day and White Day from February 4 (Sun.) to March 14 (Thu.), 2024 (reservation start date: January 21 (Sun.)) in stores and online.

Official online store URL: https://tohoen.com/lineup/index.html

Aiwaerimon! Detail URL : https://tohoen.com/lineup/type_season.html

Beloved Mon by Beloved Monster x Monster!

(from top left) yellow: manju with tsubu-an filling, blue: manju with chocolate bean paste, eyeball monster: gombi with condensed milk strawberry miruku-an filling, pink: manju with koshi-an filling

＜Eyeballs! Blue monster! A new challenge in Japanese confectionery making.

A pop-cute and eye-catching monster. Its true identity is a Japanese confectionery made of manju and gyuhi! Inside are four kinds of bean jam, including tsubu-an, koshi-an, chocolate, and condensed milk strawberry miruku. Since its establishment in 1901, "Tohoen," which is loved in Hida Takayama, has been making wagashi with an emphasis on "creating new wagashi based on traditional methods," and has released wagashi with ghosts and monsters during Halloween and Obon. The response we have received from our customers as well as from social networking sites has led us to release our first Valentine's Day and White Day limited edition products.

Pop and cute WAGASHI

<Impact x Attention to traditional manufacturing methods

After coming up with the idea, we thought, "If we are going to make a monster wagashi, why not make it in an American comic book style? we took a hint from American comic books and other flashy-colored confections to create a brightly-colored design. Through a process of trial and error, including the use of blue, a color rarely used in wagashi, a new and unprecedented wagashi was completed.

The initial concern was, "Is it safe to be so adventurous with wagashi? When we presented the finished product, young people and even men in their 30s and 40s commented, "Interesting! The finished product was well received by young people as well as men in their 30s and 40s. In accordance with Inafoen's policy of "not making something that takes a lot of time and effort and is easy to make," craftspeople carefully made each of the confections, pursuing every detail of Japanese confectionery, including ingredients, texture, and just the right amount of sweetness.

The product name "Beloved Monster! is a combination of the words "loved one" and "monster," and was named after a scene in which a gift is given to a loved one.

It is a surprise when you open the box. The assortment allows you to enjoy four different flavors in one set, which is also a unique feature of our products. This year, please enjoy a different Valentine's Day and White Day with Japanese sweets monsters.

These four monsters will come out of this box!

<Product outline

Product name: Aisaremon! (4 pieces) *Only available during Valentine's Day and White Day

Sales period: February 4, 2024 (Sun) to March 14, 2024 (Thu)

Reservation start date : January 22, 2024 (Monday)

Contents: Pink Monster: buns filled with sweet bean paste

　　　　　　 Yellow Monster: bun filled with sweet bean jam

　　　　　　 Blue Monster: Chocolate bean paste filled manjuu

　　　　　　 Eyeball monster: Gohi with condensed milk strawberry miruku bean paste

Price ： 1,650 yen (tax included)

Consumption period ： 7 days (before opening)

Sales location : 1) Inahoen main store (2 Asahimachi, Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture)

　　　　　　 2) Official online store

　　　　　　 https://www.tohoen.com/lineup/type_season.html

＜～The story behind the development of this unusual Japanese confectionery: The cat in the neighborhood gave birth! > "Nekko Manju

Nekko Manju

Appearance of the store

The development of this unique type of Japanese confectionery began seven years ago. A stray cat that lived around the store gave birth, and when we made Nekoko Manju, a Japanese sweet featuring a cute cat, we received unexpectedly positive feedback, such as "creepy-cute. It became a specialty.

Manju Osogai

The face-shaped wagashi was well received by customers, which encouraged us to take the next step and make "creepy-cute" and "kawakawa" wagashi, and when we made a yokai on a tray, it caught fire on SNS. The craftsman who made them is a "secret yokai lover. Through an unexpected hobby and coincidence, he ended up creating a series of wagashi with Japanese and foreign yokai such as Dracula, Tengu, and Hitome no kojo (one-eyed boy). (Incidentally, the monsters in this edition were made with a little bit of "sea creatures" in mind, such as clione and starfish.)