For many of our readers, any mention of "Japanese food" might evoke things like rice balls (onigiri), sushi, tempura, ramen, beef bowls (gyūdon) or Japanese curry. However, Japanese people also love baked goods. Pompadour Inc., a major Japanese major bakery chain, has started selling some unique pastries this month. The pastries are a collaboration between Pompadour, a short story contest called Monocon2022, and Yūka Uchiyama 内山優花, an influencer popular among high school students in Japan.

The theme for the contest was to write “a story where you bump into a girl on a street corner like the romantic comedy cliche, but don’t forget the bread the girl is holding in her mouth”. What a fun theme! They made two types of pastries based on scenes in the stories.

Unrequited Love Danish

The first pastry is called “Unrequited Love Danish” (kataomoi denisshu | 片想いデニッシュ)! How adorable! This pastry appeared in “You, the girl I met on an unusual morning” (mishiranu asa to kimi | 見知らぬ朝と君) by Shizuku Kisaragi 如月雫. The story is about a boy who meets a girl he doesn’t know although she was wearing a uniform from the same school. This story won the main prize. The cute heart-shaped danish is filled with whipped cream and strawberry jam. The red bits on top are raspberry chips. The price is 270 JPY, tax included.

You can watch a video where Yūka Uchiyama reads the story aloud on the official YouTube channel .

If you prefer to read the story, rather than watch the video, check the contest's website. You can read it for free! The story is all in Japanese, but it’s very short, so if you’re a Japanese learner at an N3 JLPT level, it will be good reading practice!

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Coconut and Cheese with Pineapple and Bacon

This is the next pastry. It looks very tasty! The story that came in second place, “Her favorite,” (kanojo no okiniiri | 彼女のお気に入り) by Yū Miyamai 宮舞夕, serves as its inspiration. Pineapple, caramelized coconuts, cheese, and bacon. The combination of sweet and savory ingredients sounds so unique, but it's actually key to the story! The price is 280 JPY, tax included.

You can read the story here too.

The two pastries are available at all Pompadour stores until the 31st of this month. They're perfect for the pre-Valentine's Day season, so why not enjoy some award-winning stories while trying some cute and delicious pastries!