Bashoan Okamoto Main Store
This venerable confectioner was founded in 1909 on Omote-cho shopping street in Nakano-cho. The shop was named after Matsuo Basho by the first owner, a fan of the poet. They use select ingredients like local Bitchu white adzuki beans for their white an bean paste, and Hokkaido-grown adzuki for their black an. Both are made to an unchanging recipe going back to its founding. Their famous Asahikawa treats are colored light pink, white and light blue for a beautiful contrast, and were offered to the Showa Emperor on his visit to Okayama. Their Beniyokan bean jelly is made after the recipe supposedly used by Toyotomi Hideyoshi at his Jurakutei tea parties, and is but one of their many delights, all refined over the years by craftsmen not content just to follow tradition.