Nihon Sun » Kashi-ya Yokocho http://www.nihonsun.com Japan's Online Travel & Culture Magazine Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:55:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.1 en hourly 1 The Kawagoe Candy Maker http://www.nihonsun.com/2009/02/03/the-kawagoe-candy-maker/ http://www.nihonsun.com/2009/02/03/the-kawagoe-candy-maker/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:00:00 +0000 Shane Sakata http://www.nihonsun.com/?p=1090 This past fall my husband and I made a day trip to Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture, about an hour outside of Tokyo.  It was a splendid day and a holiday which lent a festive atmosphere to the streets with crowds and special vendors all about.  As we wandered through the quaint town, also known as "Little Edo", we stopped to admire the old Japanese storehouses and lovely shops and we made in a point to see the Gohyaku-Rakan (500 statues of Buddha’s disciples) and Kashi-ya Yokocho or Confectioner’s Alley.

Kawagoe Candy Maker

This gentleman above was shaping warm sugar into candy along Kashi-ya Yokocho and we couldn’t help but stop for a moment to see what he was going to create.  He started with a blue ball of sugar atop a stick which he kneaded, pulled and then carefully shaped into a swirling s-shaped pattern.  We weren’t sure just what the end result would be so we watched with the others who had curiously gathered around his colorful booth.  

He kept us in anticipation until he pulled out a small tool and further sculpted the sugar – he had stretched and shaped the sugar into a fantastical blue dragon that was much to stunning to eat!

It was a great day, and I hope to have an excuse to make the trip to Kawagoe again soon.

The image above is a diptych (two images in one) and was inspired by a photography project suggested by Japanorama. 

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