Established in 1901, Tohoen is one of Japan's most renowned makers of wagashi (traditional Japanese confectionery). While that may lead you to believe they're a bit old fashioned in their craft, they have quite the creative sense of humor when making their popular manju--sweet dessert dumplings typically filled with red bean paste. In the past they've made waves for releasing manju with Year of the Tiger designs, as well as adorable cats wearing masks for good pandemic luck.

Tohoen's pattern of fascinating manju continues, this time by getting into the Halloween spirit. Tohoen is releasing a trio of ghoulish manju inspired by famous Japanese ghosts and yokai--the spirits and demons of Japanese folklore.

The spooky dessert trio includes three of Japan's most famous sprites. The first is the Kuchi-Sake Onna (Slit-Mouth Woman), a deformed woman with her mouth slit ear-to-ear. Legend says she appears late at night and asks her victim if they think she is pretty. A positive answer will leave you with a similar wound to her, and a negative answer will find you hacked to pieces with scissors. Fortunately this tastes a lot better than that sounds! The manju is nerikiri, a colorful wagashi made by kneading and mixing sweetened white bean jam, Chinese yam, and glutinous rice flour and filled with red bean paste.

The next is a kappa, a river-dwelling mischievous yokai known to favor cucumbers. It's made with matcha green tea with a hint of sweetened sweet bean paste. The final is the karakasa-obake, a yokai that consists of a cyclopean umbrella that hops around on one leg. It's made with soft sticky rice paste and red bean paste as well.

Those in Japan can order the spooky manju trio for 1,250 yen at the official online shop between October 15th and October 30th.