Pandemic-themed Japanese Sweets “Gomitsu” to go on sale in February

The Wagashi / 和菓子 (Japanese sweets) maker Tōhōen 稲豊園 will release a new pandemic-themed set of five pieces in February, aimed to go on sale for Valentine’s Day.

Gomitsu (五蜜) refers to a special set of five wagashi and Tōhōen, a company with a long history in traditional Japanese confections, came up with this innovative idea for the 2021 Valentine's Day.

Tōhōen has been running for approximately 110 years, and it is a family business that operates in the Hida Takayama neighborhood.

They are famous for the traditional taste and seasonal desserts and for how much thought they put into creating each design.

Not only is their taste authentic and exquisite, but the traditional appearance of the sweets is also delightful, and they have such creative designs.

One of their most popular sweets with a rather unique but adorable motif is the cat manjū

.

Between the traditional looking types, they have the strawberry daifuku and Japanese yomogi (mugwort) rice cakes (kusa manjū), made from fresh ingredients, both looking and tasting magnificent.

Tōhōen came up with another interesting concept that reminds us to be responsible and stay safe during pandemic times.

The Gomitsu five wagashi set has five pieces, and Amabie, the pandemic-fighting yōkai (demon), is the main inspiration for this set.

It includes the following:

One piece of Amabie gyūhi mochi (a soft type of mochi) with strawberry bean paste
"Ventilation" motif manjū with red bean paste
"Avoid gathering in groups" motif yōkan roll with red bean paste
"Mask" motif Japanese agar jelly (kingyoku) with lemon flavor
"Washing hands" motif yuzu-an yōkan roll

You can buy the set for 1,500 yen (tax included) starting from the 4th of February to the 15th of March.

Besides the Gomitsu set, they also have another set of six sweets, including the yōkai, Amabie, and their popular wagashi, cat manjū, wearing masks (1,900 yen).

It has been a year already since the global pandemic, so people are getting more stressed and impatient while waiting for it to come to an end.

However, there are new cases every day, and people are worried that there is still a long way until everything gets to settle down and things will slowly get back to normal.

Even though Japanese sweets might not do anything to stop the pandemic, they can at least give us some hope and a smile on our faces to light up the gloomy days caused by the COVID-19.

You can also choose to write a message if you send it to someone, so they get some fighting spirit and your feelings together with the Japanese sweets.

You can already make a reservation here.

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