Wagashiya-san: English Instructions, Step by Step
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Wagashiya-san — “the Japanese sweets shop” — makes four traditional sweets from one pack, using nothing but water. You colour the dough yourself, shape each sweet in your hands and decorate it. It is closer to modelling than to cooking, and it is the only kit we stock that copies wagashi, the sweets a Japanese confectioner makes to go with tea.
What You're Making
Ichigo daifuku
The strawberry-and-bean-paste mochi, in custard and anko flavours.
Taiyaki
The fish-shaped cake sold at festivals, in strawberry cream and anko flavours.
Usagi manju
A rabbit-shaped bun, strawberry flavour.
Oni manju
The knobbly sweet-potato bun from Japan’s Tokai region, custard flavour.
One pack makes one of each of the four. If daifuku is new to you, our guide to mochi explains what the real thing is.
Why It Feels Like Modelling Clay
Most kits in this range end with a liquid that sets. This one ends with a dough. Japanese makers call the texture mochitto — soft and springy — and it holds whatever shape you give it, so the skill is in your fingers rather than in the measuring.
That makes it the most open-ended kit we carry. The pack shows four sweets, but nothing stops you making your own shapes once you have the hang of it.
How to Make It
Want to see more? Follow @popncandy_tokyo on Instagram for more Japanese candy kits being made.
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Lay out the three powders
Between them they cover all four sweets: the dough, the colour and the filling. Follow the numbered pictures on the pack for which is which.
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Mix the dough
Powder and water in the well, as printed on your pack, and stir until it comes together.
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Colour it
Work the colour into portions of the dough — yellow, pink and so on — for the different sweets.
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Shape each sweet in your hands
Roll, press and pinch. The dough does not stick, so take your time.
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Fill with bean paste
Make a hollow in the dough with the spoon and add the sweet bean paste, then close it up or leave it showing, as the pictures show.
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Decorate and serve
Add the details from the pack and arrange all four.
If the Dough Will Not Hold Its Shape
Three causes, in the order they actually happen:
What to check
- Too much water. A wet dough slumps. Measure against the line on the tray.
- Not mixed enough. Keep working it until it is smooth before you start shaping.
- Too much filling. Bean paste in a thin shell breaks through. Use a little less.
Water is behind more failures across this whole range than anything else — we wrote up why the water is almost always the problem and what to pour if your tap water is hard.
Common Questions
Does it need a microwave?
No. Water only, no stove — here is the full list of kits like that.
What allergens does it contain?
Meiji declares milk and soy. The filling is made from adzuki bean paste. Always check the printed pack, and see our parents’ guide.
Does it taste like real wagashi?
It is candy, not a confectioner’s sweet, so think of it as a playful version. The shapes and flavours are the real ones.