Tokyo teahouse serves up a sakura matcha dessert you won’t find anywhere else

Unique cherry blossom dessert conceals a surprising filling of traditional flavours.

If you’re looking to explore an area of Tokyo that retains an air of traditional Japanese charm, then Kagurazaka in Shinjuku needs to be on your itinerary. As one of Tokyo’s few remaining geisha districts, this quiet corner of the city is dotted with cobblestone-style backstreets, longstanding stores, and numerous ryotei (traditional Japanese restaurants) where geisha still perform to this day.

On one of the narrow side streets you’ll find a beautiful teahouse cafe called Kagurazaka Saryo, and at this time of year it serves up one of the best sakura sweets in Tokyo.

▼ Plus, some delicious extras.

All these items look gorgeous, but there’s a lot more to them than meets the eye, as they contain extremely high-quality ingredients that make them taste sublime.

▼ The star dessert is Haruka, which means “Spring Breeze“.

This poetically named dessert is a seasonal, limited-edition cherry blossom Mont Blanc, with strands of thin “sakura an” (cherry blossom bean paste) making it feel as delicate as a spring breeze.

Scattered around the dessert is a sprinkling of sakura-flavoured chocolate shavings, mixed with matcha-flavoured feuilletine (crispy, crumbled crepe pieces).

The feuilletine and chocolate shavings add a delicate sweetness and crunchy texture to the dessert, while also resembling fallen sakura petals on green grass.

On top is a rare, luxury Japanese strawberry variety known as Awayuki, which has very low acidity and a sakura pink hue.

At first glance, you might think this is a one-note dessert that consists only of sakura paste, but slice into it and you’ll find it has delicious complexity.

Beneath the strands of sakura is a layer of handmade ice cream containing sencha (steamed green tea) sourced from Shizuoka Prefecture, an area famous for green tea.

Beneath that is a crunchy meringue, followed by Crème Épaisse (a popular French cream made by fermenting fresh cream with lactic acid bacteria), a tart griotte (sour cherry) jam, and a thin layer of sponge to finish.

Scooping a serving of everything onto a plate adds even more flavour to the this six-layered dessert, with another strawberry to be found in the mix as well.

Each mouthful delivers perfect measures of flavour to the taste buds for an absolutely sublime eating experience. Unlike a lot of other sakura treats, this one doesn’t punch you in the mouth with sweetness or intense floral aromas, which is a testament to the high quality ingredients and the level of care in its creation.

▼ The sweet and tart taste of sour cherry adds a nice accent to the mellow cherry blossom flavours.

The heavy outer layer of sakura might look like a lot, but its airy smoothness melts on the tongue, imparting just the right amount of blossom flavour to enhance the other ingredients.

Hidden within it all are pieces of sakura-flavoured warabi mochi (a traditional jelly-like bracken starch confection), which provides a nice surprise with its smooth mouthfeel.

Looking closely at the warabi mochi reveals it has a gorgeous light pink colour, and a speckling of ground sakura leaves, the hallmark of a good cherry blossom dessert.

We’ve tried a lot of sakura treats in our time, and this freshly made Mont Blanc was one of the best we’ve ever tasted. The interplay between sakura, matcha, meringue, cherry, cream and sponge created subtle nuances of flavour you’d normally find at a high-class restaurant, making this dessert a memorable one.

▼ Plus, it comes with a choice of tea, and we recommend ordering the matcha, which is deliciously deep green and incredibly flavourful.

Kagurazaka Saryo has two other locations in Tokyo, at Ikebukuro Sunshine City and Shibuya Scramble Square, as well as one branch each in Italy, Canada and Thailand. As the place where the teahouse started, though, Kagurazaka is home to the main branch, and this is the only location where you’ll be able to order the special Haruka Mont Blanc.

▼ At the two other Tokyo locations, as well as the head branch, you can enjoy another cherry blossom special: the Sakura Warabi Mochi Matcha Latte.

This original drink uses Kyoto matcha as the star ingredient, and tops it all off with a mound of sakura cream and a pickled cherry blossom.

The gorgeous combination of pink and green makes this a total showstopper, and it impresses the palate too.

▼ How green is this matcha?

The body of the drink contains a layer of cream to mellow out the intensity of the matcha, and at the bottom is a mound of sakura warabi mochi. The thick pieces of warabi mochi travel up the straw to wow your taste buds with a hit of jelly-like smoothness, delivering subtle spurts of sakura to complement the green tea.

These limited-edition treats are levels above regular cafe offerings, and the high quality is reflected in the price. The Haruka Mont Blanc retails for 2,860 yen (US$18.03) for a set with Japanese tea, or 2,970 yen for a set with matcha or gyokuro, while the Sakura Warabi Mochi Matcha Latte is on the menu at 990 yen.

The high price is worth it for a sakura experience to remember, though, and they’re only on the menu for a limited time until early-to-mid April, so now’s the time to explore Kagurazaka, and all its hidden charms.

Cafe information
Kagurazaka Saryo Main Store /神楽坂 茶寮 本店
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Kagurazaka 3-1
東京都新宿区神楽坂3-1
Open 11:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
Website

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Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events

Ikea is all about creating cozy living spaces, and ditto for Pokémon Pokopia.

In Pokémon Pokopia, the goal shifts from capturing Pocket Monsters to creating a home. Taking on the role of a determined Ditto, the player builds a town and fills its structures with creature comforts through various crafting and construction mechanics.

But while Ditto might be new to this whole interior design thing, Ikea has been at it for a while now, and so as a joint celebration of the release of Pokémon Pokopia and the 20th anniversary of Ikea’s first store opening in Japan, they’re teaming up for a collaboration that’s bringing some Ikea fun to the game world, and also some of the game’s style to the real world.

Within Pokémon Pokopia, Ikea has created an Ikea Island that players can visit. While there, you can check out homes created by Ikea’s designers that boast interiors inspired by Pikachu and Snorlax. Pikachu’s is focused on playful socializing, while Snorlax’s, naturally, is more about cozy, slumber-inviting relaxation.

These rooms have also been recreated at Ikea Japan stores using the chain’s furnishings, so that you can get the feel of really visiting the game’s world. The in-store rooms also have posted codes that grant access to the in-game Ikea Island

Visitors to Ikea stores can also take part in a Pokémon stamp rally activity, collecting stamps to put on an adorably illustrated paper at seven stamp stations hidden within each store (with the exception of the Okayama branch, which isn’t part of the collaboration).

Puzzlingly, Ikea hasn’t mentioned anything about a prize for those who collect all seven stamps, but members of the Ikea Family reward program who make a purchase of 5,000 yen (US$32) or more on their visit will get an Ikea Pokémon sticker sheet.

▼ There are a total of six sheets, with two given out randomly during any single week.

Part of what’s made Ikea a success in Japan is how popular it is as a place to spend the better part of a day, with fans sometimes as excited about eating in the store’s attached cafe as they are shopping for home furnishings. For such-motivated visitors, the collaboration also includes Pokémon-themed decorations for desserts (though in addition to Okayama, Ikea’s Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Yokohama Bay Quarter cafes are sitting this out).

The in-store Pokémon/Ikea collaboration is currently underway, and will be going on until May 10, while Pokémon Pokopia’s Ikea Island will be visitable through June 30.

Source, images: PR Times
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Japan’s prime minister exchanges Dragon Ball kamehamehas with president of France[Video]

Leaders of world powers strike energy blast pose.

There’s an interesting cultural question that pops up during international meetings in Japan: Should the participants shake hands at the end of their conversation? Japan isn’t ordinarily a hand-shaking society, with bowing instead being the gesture by which respect, gratitude, and similar earnest sentiments are conveyed. However, most Japanese people know that handshaking is common in much of the rest of the world, especially western countries…but then again, so too are many people from other nations aware that bowing is the norm in Japan.

There’s not a clear consensus, and it’s a question that only gets more complicated when both parties are prominent figures who frequently interact with each other’s culture, such as, say, Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi and French president Emmanuel Macron. As the pair wrapped up a joint press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday, it appeared that they’d subconsciously settled on a handshake…until Takaichi followed it with a third option.

Yes, that’s Dragon Ball’s kamehameha pose that the two world leaders exchanged. The gesture itself is more or less the same as Street Fighter’s hadouken, but it’s clearly Dragon Ball’s energy blast that Takaichi and Macron are emulating, as Takaichi can be faintly heard saying “kamehameha” through the audience’s applause. Macron himself, as a professed anime/manga fan, is also likely more familiar with the kamehameha than the hadouken.

▼ A clip of Macron at France’s Japan Expo event in 2025, where he met with Kazuhiko Torishima, Dragon Ball’s initial editor

Avec la légende Kazuhiko Torishima qui nous fait l’honneur de sa présence à la Japan Expo. Vive la culture qui nous rapproche ! pic.twitter.com/xi2aH9HWAf

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 3, 2025

Following the press conference, Macron posted the kamehameha video to his Twitter account along with “Fusion” written in Japanese.

フュージョン！ pic.twitter.com/8rz95S8Yzl

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) April 1, 2026

Of course, the French president didn’t come all the way to Japan for anime fandom, and the main purpose of his visit is to discuss cooperation between the French and Japanese governments regarding rare earth and energy procurement. Still, the sudden kamehameha shows that their worldwide recognition and popularity grow, anime and manga continue to be prominent goodwill cultural ambassadors for Japan.

Source: Yomiuri Shimbun
Top image: Pakutaso
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Fading Tokyo – Searching for signs of the Showa era as local neighborhoods evolve[Photos]

Mr. Sato starts his urban exploration of Tokyo to catch a glimpse of local neighborhoods’ pasts before they’re changed forever.

There’s never a time when Tokyo isn’t changing. The city is so big and has so many people that there’s always some part of it that’s being renovated, redeveloped, or otherwise reimagined. Oftentimes those changes bring greater convenience and interesting new experiences, but at the same time, there’s also the sadness that comes with losing elements that were part of the cityscape for decades up until then.

That’s something that our ace reporter Mr. Sato has been thinking about a lot recently. A resident of western Tokyo, he lives not far from the Seibu Shinjuku Line, which is going thought some extensive renovation work, with stretches of track and stations being converted from above-ground to underground facilities. Having been part of a construction crew that did similar work in his hometown of Izumo, Mr. Sato knows how much the atmosphere of a neighborhood can change after such conversions, and it’s inspired him to search Tokyo for fading vestiges of the Showa era (1926-1989) in order to document and appreciate them while they still exist.

For today’s urban exploration expedition, Mr. Sato started at Baishoin Temple, also called Araiyakushi Baishoin Temple, in the vicinity of the Seibu Shinjuku Line’s Araiyakushi-mae Station. “Yakushi” means “healer,” and this temple, which was founded 440 years ago, is said to bestow blessings upon those suffering from eye ailments, and also to help ensure the health of growing children. In a more secular sense, it’s also a spot of beautiful traditional architecture, and if you time your visit for when the cherry blossoms are blooming in spring, the approach to the main gate is quite picturesque.

Baishoin isn’t the only local place for purported divine assistance either. There’s also a Shinto shrine, Arai Tenjin Kitano Shrine, right across the street, which is dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, a ninth century scholar and poet who became deified as a god of learning and education.

The shrine’s grounds have lovely sakura trees of their own too, but not of the Somei Yoshino variety that makes up the majority of Japan’s cherry blossoms. Instead, these cherry blossoms are a kind called “Princess Miyabi” that blooms earlier and has a more pronounced pink color.

From the shrine, Mr. Sato made his way to Araiyakushi-mae Station, a walk that takes about eight minutes.

▼ Walking route from Baishoin Temple to Araiyakushi-mae Station via Arai Tenjin Kitano Shrine

Araiyakushi-mae is one of the stops on the Seibu Shinjuku Line that’s being converted to an underground station, and while it’s still operating above-ground for now, the prevalent partitions are a reminder that changes are coming.

As part of the switch to underground tracks along this part of the line, a multiple railroad crossings are going to be eliminated. This will no doubt help ease congestion, but it also means those moments of neighbors waiting side by side at the crossing gate, taking in the same scenery at the same time, will also come to an end.

The entire track between Araiyakushi-mae and Nuamabukuro, the next stop on the line, will be underground once the renovations are finished, so Mr. Sato hopped on the train and rode over to Numabukuro to get a look at the neighborhood.

This crossing will be gone too, which will also likely mean the removal of the charmingly retro maps posted on its fence.

This public bath, called Ichinoyu and located a block away from Numabukuro Station, is also a remnant of an a more old-fashioned way of life. While it’s not directly in the path of the renovation work, one can’t help wondering if it’ll eventually get swept away as part of a local redevelopment project, but for now it’s hanging on, as are the small, independent izakaya pubs on the nearby streets.

As he strolled about, Mr. Sato suddenly spotted a large torii gate marking the approach to Ooka Inari Daimoyijin.

Ironically, after he passed through the gate and followed the path, he found that this shrine, dedicated to Ukanomitama, a god of harvests and agriculture, is actually pretty small, but Mr. Sato sill stopped to say a prayer of silent thanks.

▼ Route from Numabukuro Station to Ichinoyu and Ooka Inari Daimoyijin

Now with food on his mind, Mr. Sato realized that he’d gotten really hungry, so it was time to look for lunch.

The good honest grub of Manpuku Kitchen and halal offerings of Rejaul, the establishments shown in the photo above, were both tempting, but unfortunately both of the places were closed at this late-afternoon hour, so Mr. Sato’s search continued, with more visual reminders of just how close the future was pushing its way into the past’s territory.

In time, he came across a Chinese restaurant called Tairiku, with its banner hanging across the doorway and signaling that they were still serving.

Stepping inside, Mr. Sato saw that the only people in the restaurant were the owner/chef and one elderly customer who appeared to be a regular. The two of them were entranced by a high school baseball game they were watching on the restaurant’s TV set, with the contest having just gone into extra innings. Mr. Sato put in his order for a bowl of tanmen ramen and a plate of gyoza (700 yen [US$4.50] and 400 yen, respectively), and as he ate, he found himself getting emotionally invested in the game too.

Both starting pitchers were still in the game, which was tied at 0-0. With every pitch, the other customer would let out an admiring “Oohh!”, and Mr. Sato unconsciously began to do the same, periodically looking down at his food to take a bite but then moving his eyes back up to the game.

The ramen and gyoza were delicious and filling, but just as enjoyable was this unexpected sense of unspoken comradery with the other people in the restaurant, and when the game ended with a 2-1 victory for the winning team, Mr. Sato felt like he’d had not just a great meal, but a uniquely comforting experience…which he then followed with another at a cafe called Nekomaru.

▼ Neko is the Japanese word for “cat,” so you can probably spot the cafe even if you don’t read Japanese.

▼ Route from Ooka Inari Daimoyijin Shrine to Tairiku to Nekomaru

This is a retro kissaten, a Japanese cafe in the style that was ubiquitous in the ‘60s and ‘70s, but which became less common as the Bubble Economy years went on. That means fewer flashy Instagram-baiting drinks and desserts, and a stronger focus on fundamentals, such as a really good cup of coffee for 480 yen.

After taking a few satisfying sips, Mr. Sato realized that this stylishly old-school atmosphere was having an influence on his mental state. Ordinarily, in idle moments like this he’d be quick to pull out his smartphone and start scrolling through social media. But with the sounds of the staff’s jazz selection flowing from the cafe’s speakers and a cup of high-quality coffee in his hand, Mr. Sato felt he had all the stimulation he needed, and without an excess of it either. It was tranquil but not tranquilizing, and the 15 minutes or so he spent in this throwback state of mind turned out to be far more satisfying than doomscrolling, and he’s going to keep Nekomaru in mind for the next time he finds himself in need of a mental detox of this sort.

After leaving the cafe, Mr. Sato started walking south, in the direction of Nakano Station, the closest train stop to his apartment. This brought him to the Myoshoji River, where a plaque posted on the bridge he crossed said that back in the Edo period, frogs caught along the river, which were caught to be used as food, were collected as tax payments by the Shogunate government.

On the south side of the river is Heiwa no Mori Park, a relaxing green space for locals on ground that used to be part of a prison.

And eventually, Nakano Station came into view.

▼ Route from Nekomaru to Heiwa no Mori Park to Nakano

Nakano Station has been going through some massive renovations of its own recently. The new building is much larger and more modern than its previous form was, and, to Mr. Sato’s eyes, looks like something that would blend right in with the more heavily urbanized environments of the Tokyo city center, with the redesign making it more convenient and commerce-friendly.

Similarly, Nakano Sun Plaza, a B-tier concert hall near Nakano Station that’s been the venue for performances by many beloved niche artists over the years, is in a state of limbo as it’s technically closed down, but demolition has been indefinitely delayed.

Mr. Sato isn’t completely opposed to the march of progress in Tokyo’s neighborhoods. However, understanding that such changes are inevitable, and in some cases even necessary, has hardened his resolve not to overlook those special places that are going to be fading away as newer, shinier stuff comes in, and he’s planning to expand his explorations to other parts of the city too, while there’s still time.

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