Tomoeya (Main Store) Otemon Store

This kanmidokoro (cafe featuring Japanese-style sweets) sits in front of the main gate of Ako Castle. The shop, which is located inside of an old-fashioned townhouse evocative of the Genroku period (1688-1704), serves traditional Japanese sweets, zenzai (sweet adzuki bean soup), soba noodles, and more. Their Shiomi Manju buns are a traditional sweet featuring a filling of moderately-sweet strained adzuki bean paste from Hokkaido flavored with a salty accent gently wrapped with a pastry covering. The salt used is Amashio salt from Ako, a city famous for salt production. The wrapper bears the same twofold tomoe symbol as the family crest of Oishi Kuranosuke. The shop is best known for its Shio Fukumi, a confection that features a filling of strained bean paste subtly accented with Ako salt sandwiched between two fragrantly-roasted rice wafers. Also popular is their Shio Fukumi Matcha, a variant featuring a filling flavored with richly fragrant Uji green tea.