There have always been many shops in Asakusa that sell sweets made from sweet potatoes. Most of them were established in the Meiji era (1868-1912) and are still loved by many people.
But why are there so many sweet potato confectionery shops in Asakusa? It is strange that Asakusa is not a sweet potato production area. In fact, it originates from the Meiji era (1868-1912), when sweet potatoes were transported in large quantities by boat along the Sumida river from Kawagoe where it has been a sweet potato production area. With the establishment of sweet potato wholesalers, large quantities of sweet potatoes came to be handled and the number of shops using sweet potatoes increased.
This article introduces several long-established to recently trendy sweet potato sweets shops in Asakusa! Be sure to try them when you visit Asakusa!
Mangando
This is one of the oldest shops, established in 1886.
Kintsuba and sweet potatoes were so loved in the Edo period (1603-1868) that there was a song that read: ‘The things I want to eat even if I grow old are Dote’s kintsuba and sweet potatoes’. Their famous imokin is an arrangement of Dote’s kintsuba and sweet potato. By the way, the word imokin combined with kintsuba and potato in Japanese which we call imo.
There are vacuum-packed imokin that last a long time, but imokin available only in shops are freshly made and completely different in taste and specially texture. They are warm and very tasty with a chewy skin. The sweetness is not that sweet and it is like eating a silky baked potato. Freshly made imokin is only 24 hours, but it is still worth it!
Funawa
This is another long-established Japanese confectionery in Asakusa and has been in business since 1902. It is also famous for its sweet bean paste sweets called ankodama, but what I would like to introduce here is a sweet potato yokan. I personally think that Funawa’s signature products are Ankodama and Imoyokan. Imoyokan is a sweet potato yokan with a simple flavour, made from sweet potato, sugar and salt. The company invented sweet potato yokan because they wanted people to enjoy yokan more easily. Therefore they use sweet potato to make paste instead of red bean paste that was more expensive at that time.
The natural flavour of the yokan has been preserved and it is very tasty with a gentle flavour. I like to eat it warmed in a toaster. When it is warm, I feel l am eating a baked sweet potato and it is my favourite way of eating it.
Oimoyasan Koshin
A sweet potato wholesaler was established in the Meiji era (1868-1912) and Oimoyasan Koshin of Kawako Shoten has been in business since then.
Sweet potatoes have been a popular vegetable among the general public since the Edo period and are said that it have saved many lives during famines due to their superior nutritional qualities. In 1876, Kawako Shoten, a sweet potato wholesaler, was founded and hopes that many people would become familiar with sweet potatoes. In 1984, Asakusa Oimoyasan Koshin, a sweet potato confectionery speciality shop, was opened.
Sweet potato cake and sweet potato yokan is available, but Oimoyasan Koshin is best known for its daigakuimo (candied sweet potatos). There are always two varieties of sweet potato and they change depending on the day and the season.
Yaki-imo specialty shop Imoyasu 2nd branch
Yaki-imo specialty shop Imoyasu-san opened in 2005 in Ibaraki Prefecture, which is Japan’s largest producer of sweet potatoes. Under the catchphrase ‘We want to impress you with our yaki-imo(baked sweet potato)’, they asked themselves how sweet they could make it by roasting it with stones. Through trial and error, we have produced sweet baked sweet potato even from varieties that are difficult to saccharify.
Ten years after the company was founded, they have been developing and producing their own brand of sweet potatoes.
As well as baked sweet potatoes, there are various other sweets, such as thinly sliced and deep-fried sweet potato chips and ice cream. My recommendation is Yaki-imo sandwich (baked sweet potato sandwich). This sandwich consists of sweet baked sweet potato and fresh cream between bread from a local bakery that has been here for a long time. The combination of sweet,and silky baked potato, and fresh cream is the best!
Imo Pippi
Imo Pippi is a yaki-imo(baked sweet potato) specialty shop originating in Ehime Prefecture. Unlike regular yaki-imo, the shop specialises in ‘matured yaki-imo’, which has moist and silky texture and sweet syrup made by a unique method of maturing.
The shop attracted a lot of attention through SNS such as X (formerly Twitter) even before it opened, and it became a popular shop with a long queue from the very first day it opened. Even after the shop opened in Asakusa, it is a popular shop that always appears on SNS as one of Asakusa’s recommended eating and walking sweets.
The menu at the shop includes a variety of special baked sweet potato sweets, such as the super matured baked sweet potato sold by weight, baked sweet potato ice cream, baked sweet potato with honey butter on the top and baked sweet potato brûlée. This blog will introduce the baked sweet potato brûlée, which is popular on SNS and one of them signature sweets.
The baked sweet potato is filled with custard cream and is very satisfying. The purple sweet potato paste and ice cream, which is squeezed in front of you like a Mont Blanc, are also popular and highly recommended too!
