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In Chuo-ku, there are many long-established Japanese confectionery shops and famous Japanese confectionery shops in department stores.
The opportunity to look back on the history of sweets this time began when I purchased Kashiwa Mochi at a Japanese confectionery shop that I had been concerned about for a long time.
The shop is Mr. Aoyagi Irifune, founded in 1891 and has a store in Irifune.
It is a shop that is now loved by locals, with goodwill from Aoyagi Honten in Shimbashi.

Japanese sweets are lined up in the store, such as roll cakes and seasonal sweets with historically interesting episodes.
The seasonal sweets at the time of the visit were Kashiwa-mochi (an, miso-an), and the Kashiwa-mochi (Miso-an) I received were impressive because of the sticky and thick dough unique to handmade and the less sweet miso-an.

And among the many products, the signboard can be said to be "Chrysanthemum".
In 1891, it has been sold since its opening as "Minami Hatchobori Naka no Hashi Aoyagi" by the first Asayoshi Yamaguchi, and during the Sino-Japanese Russo-Japanese War era, it is sold as "in the middle of victory."
In the simple middle of the dainagon that has continued since the Meiji era, the name is changed and it is still alive.

While many Japanese sweets were displayed, there was something I was worried about.
That's Morinaga's milk caramel and azuki caramel.
This is also a sweets with a long history, but don't you wonder why it is at a Japanese confectionery shop?
In fact, there was an episode that was a coincidence and was not a coincidence.

It was 10 years ago, TV Tokyo's "Haunting! Some of you may know that it has been introduced in Ad Street Heaven, but this Irifune Aoyagi is the first store that sold Morinaga Seika's sweets (marshmallow) at stores!
"Why is it a Japanese confectionery shop?" "Why is it special to sell marshmallows for the first time?"...Let's solve such questions one by one.♪

Around 1899, when Morinaga Seika Co., Ltd. founder Taichiro Morinaga returned from training in the United States and opened a confectionery factory.
From around me, I didn't seem to carry my job as much as I expected, so I was advised and encouraged to work at another confectionery store or return to the United States.
However, because they were contrary to the purpose of Taichiro's visit to the United States, they refused, "I will push forward towards the place I believe."
Meanwhile, even if you visit a leading confectionery shop in the city from one end to develop sales channels, you will face the harsh reality of not only being able to get orders from just one house, but also not being able to get the other party....

One day, when I ordered an American-style ball box at a house that manufactures a ball box called Tominaga that I saw in Tamuracho under Atago, Tominaga said, `` Aoyagi of Nakano Bridge I've known for a long time, so I'll guide you. "
When I visited Aoyagi with his guidance, Mrs. Waka, the wife of his master, Asayoshi Yamaguchi, used to work for the Marquis of Nabeshima, and talked about Taichiro from Saga Prefecture. Was.

From his sympathy for his hometown, "I don't think there is any hope to be sold, but please see only fifteen-en, if not, you may eat at home or give it to others......."And ordered a sweet (marshmallow) made by Taichiro.
Although it took two months to see the clues of the sales channel, this was the first order in Japan in the first place, and Taichiro wrote that the joy at this time was beyond words.

(In the store, photos of the store at the time of its founding are displayed.)

After that, with the introduction of the owners of Aoyagi, the Aoyagi family became the first customers, such as Aoyagi head office in Shimbashi Kanamachi and Aoyagi branch on Shibakubocho-dori, and gradually increased orders and customers in other areas. .
In 1900, we posted an advertisement in the Hochi Shimbun and started using the Angel Mark!
Advertisements include the characters of Western confectionery such as Mashima Lo, Banana, Chiyocolate Cream, French Mexist, Batakatsup, and Kayaramel, "It is suitable for battlefield or injured soldiers visit", "Mashima Low Bowl entry is the most convenient for shipping", and "There is no cognition of corruption suitable for summer gifts".
The globe neonon installed in Ginza in 1950, when the free sale of confectionery resumed, is also one of the devised advertisements.

As an aside, Taichiro's first confectionery made as a sample, and it was marshmallow that matched the Japanese taste.
Nowadays Japanese people eat caramel without any discomfort, but at that time it was not suitable for Japanese people due to the smell of milk and butter, and it seems that they only took orders little by little for Westerners living in Japan.
The reference book "Morinaga 1955 History" states, "Currently, it has become a common choice unless it is a confectionery that uses a lot of milk and butter. In fact, the change of time is unexpected for us. "
From here, it can be seen that Western confectionery has penetrated and accepted much in half a century.

More than 50 years later, new sweets are being produced every day.
Morinaga Confectionery, which has spread more and more among Japanese after the war, has become so famous that no one has ever eaten it now.
It was undeniably the help of Mr. Aoyagi Irifune's first husband and wife who supported the early days of the company.
There is such a connection, and the shops introduced this time also handle Morinaga's products ^^
I was able to get a glimpse of a scene that is the key to the history of the development of sweets in unexpected places, and once again thought Chuo-ku was interesting!

[References]
Morinaga Seika Co., Ltd., “History of Morinaga 1955” (1954)
https://www.morinaga.co.jp/ (viewed on May 5, 2019)

Irifune Aoyagi
Address: 1-2, Irifune, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 8-104
TEL: 03-3551-0146

※We have received permission from Mr. Aoyagi Irifune to introduce you.