Asakusa (department store)Japanese confectionerycafe featuring Japanese-style sweets
Umezono is a Japanese sweet shop that is familiar to people of all ages, from the elderly to the young and children. Overcoming the Great Kanto Earthquake and the Tokyo Air Raid in its long history, Umezono has developed its main store, which is a symbol of Asakusa, as well as Japanese confectionery stores nationwide. We interviewed Mr. Takashi Shimizu, the seventh generation head of the family, who has created a succession of luscious new products that have captivated people of all ages, including the famous awa-zenzai.
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At approximately 12 cm in diameter and filled with red bean paste, one “Dorayaki” is a very satisfying treat.
After awa-zenzai and cream shiratama anmitsu, the next most popular products are dorayaki and kurikinton dorayaki. These are unbeatable. They are sure to please all generations.
These are also homemade, using azuki beans from Hokkaido. There is the standard dorayaki with a large layer of sweet bean paste sandwiched in between, and another dorayaki, Kurikinton dorayaki, which has brown sugar kneaded into the dough. The chestnut kinton is made with plenty of chestnuts, and is also quite popular. Our dorayaki are large.
It’s quite large compared to other stores. Moreover, it is filled with red bean paste!
The diameter is 11 to 12 centimeters. Other stores usually have a diameter of about 8 centimeters, and the amount of bean paste is also very large. Many people say, “I’m full after eating one of these. It is a very popular product among all generations.
Recently, Mont Blanc has become popular among Western confectioners, and I was reminded once again that chestnuts are delicious. If you want to eat chestnuts with all your might, Umezono’s chestnut kinton dorayaki is the one for you. I would like readers to try their chestnut kinton dorayaki and experience the hearty texture.
The innovative new product, “Dora Soft,” which was not likely to be available, is very popular on social networking sites!
We were introduced to three products and found that they take making anko (red bean paste) very seriously.
Yes, we do. We make different blends by calculating the sugar content and the balance of blending depending on the product. Making bean paste is very important.
And “Dorasoft” was born from this very popular dorayaki!
When I first saw it, I thought, “What the heck is this?” I was thinking about what I could do with the original dorayaki crust. I thought it would be fun to roll soft-serve ice cream in the dorayaki crust, so I gave it a try and was surprised at how well it turned out.
We came up with the idea together with our employees, and when we tried it, it was so well received that we often get young people uploading it to their Instagrams. We have several kinds of ice cream, including vanilla, strawberry, green tea, and sesame, but the dorayaki skin goes well with any flavor. Simple and new, dorayaki soft is such a product.
It seems unlikely, doesn’t it? How do you develop new products within the company? There are many new products, some of which you yourself come up with.
Sometimes I come up with the idea, but I also have the sales department come up with various plans and make suggestions.
I guess there is a flow of suggestions from within the company that something like this would be good, and then prototypes are made. I think it is precisely because we make our own products that we are able to take on this kind of challenge. Now, I have a question from a reader. Can I take out the awa zenzai? I am not sure if it is possible to take out.
Basically, we would like you to eat awa-zenzai at the restaurant. In fact, there are take-out and souvenirs of awa-zenzai available.
Do you mean that when you bring it home, you will heat it up in the microwave?
Yes, if you can microwave it and enjoy it.
So it softens back up.
Yes, I do. A bookmark is included, so you can see how to make it.
I heard that take-out is also available, so please feel free to enjoy it. However, I would prefer that you eat at the main store in Asakusa or Nihonbashi.
Brand” is established through relationships of trust with customers and business partners.
I would like to ask you a few questions about your “brand. What is your definition of a “brand”?
We are celebrating our 169th anniversary this year, and I think there are two important things to establish a “brand. For example, some of our customers have been coming to us for three generations, both parents and children. They were brought here by their grandmothers when they were children, and eventually grew up, got married, had children, and came to ……. We believe this is because of the relationship of trust we have with our customers.
The second is that many of our business partners have long-standing relationships with us. For the awa-zenzai mentioned earlier, we have been doing business with them for a long time without changing tools, ingredients, and other things that we have not changed. Since we have not changed the tools and ingredients to preserve the taste, our suppliers understand the importance we place on them through our long relationship with them. We believe that this is one of the factors in establishing our brand.
So the source of the brand is a relationship of trust. I remember going to Asakusa with my grandfather when I was a child, and we first went to Komagata Dozeisen, and then he took me to Umezono. I remember going to Umezono and having a sweet treat when I was a child. Even after I became an adult, I still wish I could have eaten a full meal there with my own money (laughs).
I have a memory of Asakusa, and I am drawn to Asakusa as if I were following it. I think that the taste of Asakusa is one of the things that makes me feel nostalgic.
Yes, the taste and the place are all part of the set, or the memories. Many of the customers who come to the restaurant say that.
So maybe that’s part of the reason why we can’t change the taste and, of course, the name of “awa-zenzai”.
That’s right. For example, when we serve anmitsu, we often hear people say, “It reminded me of my grandfather when I ate it. Everyone says it brings back memories.
I think Umezono-san is the one who orders tools and supplies from us, and I think he can get a stable supply just by saying, “Please give me the usual stuff. We have to deliver the right products to Mr. Umezono. The relationship you have with Mr. Umezono leads to the creation of good products, doesn’t it?
Actively disseminating information on the appeal of Tokyo’s long-established stores both domestically and internationally.
Lastly, I would like to ask you to introduce the “Edo Tokyo Brand Association” to which you belong.
Edo Tokyo has many attractions such as traditional crafts, artisan skills, food culture, and industries that have continued for more than 400 years. On the other hand, there are still not many opportunities to promote these attractions globally due to a lack of knowledge and know-how to disseminate them domestically and internationally. Despite their excellent skills, food culture, and historic industries, many businesses are having trouble finding successors, and there is concern that the traditional culture that has been nurtured will gradually decline. The main activities of the association include PR activities such as holding exhibitions and other events to promote the Edo Tokyo brand both domestically and internationally, as well as training of successors through workshops to pass on the skills and industries.
Could you also tell us about the “Edo-Tokyo Kirari Project”?
As part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s project, we are conducting the “Edo Tokyo Kirari Project. Masterpieces of long-established shops, craftsmanship, and food culture are irreplaceable treasures of Tokyo. We started this project with the hope that people in Japan and abroad will learn about the charms of these products and use them more in their daily lives, and that they will feel empathy for them as Tokyo brands and pass on Tokyo’s treasures to the future. Under the concept of “Old meets New,” we have carefully selected products that not only offer reliable quality and beautiful design, but also are full of ambition to propose new ideas that suit modern lifestyles, and introduce them as representative Tokyo brands. We believe that the project is necessary for the future of great craftsmanship by having people actually use and appreciate the products.
Mr. Umezono, you also put a lot of effort into social networking, don’t you?
We started Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook in about 2020. After we started SNS, we started to receive many young customers at our main store in Asakusa and our directly-managed stores. The number of followers is also increasing among the younger generation, and they are uploading photos of our products. I would like to continue this and let more and more young people know about Umezono and its charms.
In this interview, we talked about the products and attractions of Umezono, a long-established sweet shop in Asakusa. All of their products are popular among people of all ages, including “awa-zenzai” (sweet red bean soup), “cream shiratama anmitsu” (bean jam with cream white beans), and the recently talked-about “dora-sofu” (soft rice cake). We hope you will try them when you visit Asakusa.
*If you would like to see this dialogue on video.here (place close to the speaker or where the speaker is)
