Ayakomai Honpo Takahashi

This Japanese and Western-style confectionary shop, established in 1961, is one of the most prominent in Kashiwazaki. Situated one street down from National Route 8, the shop can be identified by its whipped cream white and chocolate brown exterior. Since it was founded, the shop’s most celebrated product has been the Ayakomai, an elegant baked sweet filled with a brown sugar, walnut, and sweet adzuki bean paste. The confection is said to have been invented in order to preserve for future generations the name of the “Ayakomai,” a traditional dance dating back more than 500 years in Kashiwazaki which was in danger of dying out. Also popular are the shop’s assortments which include the soft, milk-flavored, baked Symphonia; and the Kaze no Mai Sable hazelnut cream-filled wafer cake.