The Store That Invented Anmitsu "Ginza Wakamatsu"
The Store That Invented Anmitsu "Ginza Wakamatsu"
Adzuki bean paste, akaendo beans and fruit on agar jelly cubes, drenched in brown-sugar syrup. Anmitsu, "adzuki honey," is the quintessential Japanese dessert.
Anmitsu, too, was invented in Ginza. In 1894, Hanjiro Mori opened an adzuki-soup shop "Wakamatsu," which became widely successful. His son, Hanjiro Mori the Second, combined mitsumame, a dessert of boiled beans and molasses popular since Edo period, with adzuki bean paste to create the first anmitsu in 1930. This, too, was an instant hit.
Since the moment, anmitsu has been "the dessert of Japan." Today, many varieties of anmitsu are sold; such as Cream anmitsu which is anmitsu with ice cream, Shiratama anmitsu, a dish of animtsu with rice-flour dumplings, and also there is a mixture of the two called Cream-Shiratama anmitsu. You can eat these delicacies in the store or take them home as a souvenir. For a real Japanese treat, try anmitsu with your family and friends.