Kawaii Animal-shaped Manjus Can Be Found at Okashitsukasa Mansaku

Okashitsukasa Mansaku is a sweets shop with a long history. Established in 1968, the store’s motto is “making sweets that everyone loves”. And the store has certainly lived up to that because how can you not love these adorably shaped manjus! 

Okashitsukasa Mansaku (@okashi_mansaku) , aka Cute Manjuu Store, is a Japanese confectionaries store that specialises in making manju, especially ones made into cute animal shapes. Okashitsukasa Mansaku’s only store is located in Nagano prefecture’s Iida City, but getting these lovely sweet buns is not a problem because they mainly do business online now. Their sweets are available to buy on Creema and Minne. Also check out their official website to see what products are available. 

https://www.okashimansaku.com/

Animal-shaped Manjus 

Manju (饅頭) is a type of wagashi (和菓子), traditional Japanese confectionary. There are many varieties of manju but the basic manju has a soft outer skin and a bean paste filling, usually of red bean. 

Okashitsukasa Mansaku has 3 types of bean paste for its manju; red bean, banana, and milk cocoa. Their animal-shaped manjus are the most popular product, so let’s look at some of them. 

Many Types to Choose From 

Look at all the different animals they have. Even rare ones like beaver, otter, seal, tanuki, and a kappa which is not even a proper animal. 

Celebrate the Seasons & Holidays

The store also makes an effort to join in on the festivities with special limited time manju for some holidays. 

New Year

For this year’s year of the rabbit, the special New Year themed set includes rabbits carrying flowers, daruma pugs, Fuji mountain, and other lucky items. 

Mid-Autumn Festival

Moon-viewing manju sets with rabbits (of course) and the moon which is essential for moon-viewing. If you’re wondering why rabbits, there is a Japanese folklore that rabbits live on the moon. 

Christmas

Just a simple addition of santa hats makes everybody look festive. 

A Message for Any Occasion

And, just released this year, is the special manju message set. You can choose from hamsters, pugs, cats, and shiba inu manjus, as well as customise your one-worded message. The examples they gave are nice words like “hope”, “peace”, “cute”, “love”, but names would work just as well too. 

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Custom Order-Made Original-shaped Manjus

Okashitsukasa Mansaku also accepts custom orders. They have made original designed manju for both businesses and private events. Have a look at some of them. 

Kotori Cafe Collaboration

Kotori Cafe is a bird cafe in Tokyo. They collaborated with Okashitsukasa Mansaku to make manjus for their cafe. There are 2 design sets; one of Kotori Cafe’s characters, and one of shimaenaga (シマエナガ), a sub-species of long tailed tits native to Hokkaido. 

Pug & Peace “PAGFES 2022” Collaboration

Pug & Peace is a Japanese apparel brand for pugs. They are a regular customer of Okashitsukasa Mansaku’s, this is their latest collaboration. 

Manga “Ojisan wa Kawaii Mono ga Osuki”

Ojisan wa Kawaii Mono ga Osuki is a manga about an old man who has a hidden secret, he loves cute things. The collaboration is to celebrate the manga’s drama adaptation. 

Jack Russell Terrier

Okashitsukasa Mansaku received a custom order request for Jack Russell terrier manjus. Turns out, the customer wanted manjus that look like her own dog! How adorable! I would also like manjus made in the image of my cats. 

Sudachi (すだち), A Store Original Sweet

Although manjus are Okashitsukasa Mansaku’s bestsellers, they also have another popular product. Introducing Sudachi, the store’s original recipe. Sudachi is an egg yolk pastry coated in white chocolate. It goes well with coffee and tea. 

Its white colour makes it a great gift for White Day (March 14), which is coming soon. As a special White Day present, why not give a sudachi and manju set. 

To Close

Planning a gift or souvenir for friends and family? Here’s a great choice to consider to make it an extra special one. These adorable animal-shaped manju are not just cute to look at, they are also delicious and pair excellently with green tea. 

Follow Okashitsukasa Mansaku’s social media for their latest cute manju designs, and visit the online shops to make an order now! 

Photos provided courtesy of Okashitsukasa Mansaku 御菓子司まんさく (Official Website, Creema, Minne, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).