Ningyoyaki at Asakusa's Nakamise Dori

These cakes are filled with azuki paste and grilled in front of your eyes. Not sure, but I believe this is Kimuraya. It is about half-way up on the Nakamise Dori on your way up to the temple.

Kuya Monaka in Ginza 銀座の空也

Kuuya 空也
Chuo-ku, Ginza 6-7-19
03-3571-3304
10:00 – 17:00, Saturdays 10:00 – 16:00, closed Sundays and holidays
www.wagashi.or.jp/tokyo/shop/0337.htm (Japanese)

Started in Meiji 17 (1884), Kuya is a 4th generation shop selling only one item, monaka. The outer shell is a crispy, delicate, toasty wafer surrounding slightly sweet, crushed azuki beans (tsubuan).

Akebono Sembei in Ginza 銀座のあけぼの

Ginza Akebono 銀座あけぼの
Chuo-ku, Ginza 5-7-19
03-3571-3640
9:00 – 21:00, until 20:00 on Sunday
www.ginza-akebono.co.jp/ (Japanese)

Akebono, the very small store, has an interesting assortment of modern sembei that include cheese, almonds, and pine nuts. There is also temaki natto (dried natto wrapped in nori), and an uni sen (uni flavored sembei). And some unusual styles like genkotsu sembei that are very tough and hard to chew. Akebono also has a wide assortment of wagashi including a kuri monaka (monaka with a chestnut inside), dorayaki, and manju. Akebono has shops in most depachika. The shop in Ginza is located just behind the corner police box (koban). If you are lucky and come in the spring you can try the ichigo daifuku, a whole strawberry surrounded by azuki and wrapped in delicate mochi (sticky rice).

These photos taken in the spring show green apricots and one of my favorites, mame daifuku, azuki paste surrounded with mochi that is studded with black beans.

Pekochan-yaki in Kagurazaka 神楽坂のペコちゃん

When I worked at Takashimaya in Nihonbashi (2003-2005), customers loved to hear things like "koko dake" (only here) or "ima dake" (only now). It was always easier to sell a bottle of sake that was "koko dake" or "ima dake".

Fujiya, a confectionary giant in Japan, with over 1000 shops, has the adorable Pekochan as their mascot. Pekochan is a pig-tailed little girl whose tongue is just sticking out of her mouth. The Kagurazaka shop for Fujiya, is the only place in the country making Pekochan-yaki, (koko dake) small cakes stuffed with a variety of sweets like azuki paste, chocolate, or custard filling. There are always a few monthly flavors (ima dake). This month, the flavors are mattcha an (Kyoto's Uji mattcha green tea paste) and mango cream.

Kagurazaka is a great neighborhood to walk and graze and Pekochan-yaki is one of the sweets not to be missed. These are hot cakes, grilled until crispy, and soft on the inside.

http://syoutengai-web.net/fujiya/

Fujiya 不二家
Shinjuku-ku, Kagurazaka 1-12
03-3269-1526