Heijisenbei, which is shaped like a hat, is a famous confectionery that no one in Mie Prefecture has heard of!

"Heijisenbei Honten" is a long-established Japanese sweets shop located in daimon, the busiest area TsuCity City, Mie Prefecture. It's a famous confectionery that no one in Mie Prefecture knows about.

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Famous sweets from TsuCity

“Heijisenbei Honten” was founded in 1919.
The main store was renovated in 2015, creating a space where you can enjoy sweets inside the store.
You will find the store as soon as you enter daimon shopping street with National Route 23 behind you.
The renovated store was created with the shape of the hat used in Heijisenbei in mind.

The reason why Heijisenbei was created

`` Heijisenbei'' was born because the first generation wanted to make a souvenir sweet that was special and unique to the local area.
The shape of the hat, which is the motif, was derived from the famous story `` akogi,'' which includes the Noh song `` akogi,'' which is based on the akogi coast in TsuCity.

The story revolves around Heiji, a fisherman who lives near akogi coast. To help her mother recover from her illness, she caught a long, slender, highly nutritious fish called ``yagara'' from a no-fishing area designated as a purveyor to IseJingu and fed it to her.
My mother was getting better day by day, so I continued fishing many times.
However, Heiji left his hat on the beach, which became evidence and he was arrested.
The officials were impressed by Heiji's compassion, but there was nothing they could do about it, so he was wrapped in a minnowaki and sunk off the coast of akogi.
In memory of Heiji, who appears in this sad story, `` Heijisenbei'' is a sweet shaped like a forgotten hat.

"Heijisenbei" was born in 1912.
Since then, there have only been three ingredients: sugar, flour, and eggs.
They have continued to preserve this traditional taste, and the ingredients and recipes are still the same as they were back then.

Let's talk at the store

"Heijisenbei Honten" currently has two stores, and I visited both of them, but the first one I visited was the "Edobashi store" which is adjacent to the factory.
The store is located along National Route 23, and is on the left when coming from the Suzuka direction.
We spoke to them inside the store, which was beautifully displayed. The person who spoke to us was Managing Director Mr. Ito.

Inside the store, there is a mold of `` akogi Senbei'' along with a model of ``Yagara,'' a highly nutritious rice cracker that appears in the story of Heijisenbei.''
There are many other delicious-looking sweets that I wasn't able to get during this interview.
What particularly caught my eye was ``Heiji Monaka.''
This monaka is also made with the motif of a hat.
The special feature is the "bean paste" inside.
This is also made using an old-fashioned method, and the ``bean paste'' is said to be very sweet.
Rather than the moderately sweet sweetness that has become popular recently, they intentionally make their sweets using the traditional sweet ``anko'' (red bean paste).
It's perfect for those with a sweet tooth.

Facilities where you can feel handmade

We also toured the factory.
Heijisenbei Honten usually makes about 30,000 rice crackers a day, most of which are handmade.
Everything is done by hand, except for the automatic baking mold.
This baking mold also has a history to it, and even though it's a device, I felt it was really cool just looking at it.
There are three types of Heijisenbei in different sizes, and each one is made in a different way.
For larger ones, first make a flat rice cracker and then shape it into a hat shape.
There are various other instruments as well.
Just looking at the branding irons makes it fun.

Everything except arranging the finished sweets and packing them into small bags is done by hand.
Don't forget to be attentive to the end and it will be completed.

Visit our main store

When I visited the main store, there were Hina dolls as it was the Hina doll season.
If you look closely, you will see “Heijisenbei” on the head of the male Hina doll (lol)
Recently popular products are rice crackers with messages that are used for transfers, job changes, and other celebrations.
There are other delicious-looking waffles, and there is also a cafe space at the back of the store.
I was shown the price tags that were used in the past, and I left the store with a promise to come back again.

delicious way to eat

Naturally, I think it's most delicious to eat it as is, but some people also eat it by dipping it into pieces and dipping it into milk.
Although it may not be common these days, some people say that if you warm it up on the stove and eat it, it tastes just like freshly baked food.
Everyone has their own preferences, so rather than asking people to eat it this way, I just wanted everyone to enjoy eating `` Heijisenbei.''

Let's remember Heiji while looking at the sea

I took the opportunity to visit akogi the setting of the story that is the motif of "Heijisenbei".
It was a bit chilly, but you can relax and relax.
It might be a good idea to remember Mr. Heiji while eating the `` Heijisenbei' that you bought here.

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