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Wagashi is a term that includes various Japanese traditional sweets or desserts. Flavours like matcha, adzuki beans and kinako (roasted soy bean flour) are used, making them distinctly Japanese and setting them apart from their Western counterparts. They are often eaten as an accompaniment to green tea and seen in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies.
If you’re a fan of cute characters and wagashi, you’ll be happy to know that another Rilakkuma crossover has just turned up in Japanese convenience store, Lawson.
These cute Rilakkuma wagashi are made of nerikiri, a type of traditional Japanese sweet which is made using a white bean paste and mochi dough. Since it can be easily coloured, moulded and carved into various shapes, nerikiri is often used to create aesthetically pleasing confections. The inherent malleability of nerikiri has allowed for the creation of these new detailed and super adorable sweet versions of Rilakkuma and his little chick friend Kiiroitori.
Both of the treats contain natural food colouring and chickpeas, an ingredient which has become popular for its health benefits. Rilakkuma has a pudding flavoured filling, while Kiiroitori is chocolate.
The too-cute-to-eat sweets are available in Lawson stores right now, and cost only 259 yen. Rilakkuma, a portmanteau of ‘relax’ and ‘kuma’, the Japanese word for bear, is known for taking it easy. So do it like him and spend a day inside, drinking tea, eating Japanese sweets and watching Rilakkuma’s stop motion animation series on Netflix.