Kashiho Maruendo

Kashiho Maruendo was founded in 1927 by Iwao Harada, the grandfather of the shop's current proprietor, in Nakatsu, Oita Prefecture, and the name itself carries the founding intent: a wish to "round people's hearts" through comfort and deliciousness, spreading small circles of happiness one sweet at a time. Three generations later, the shop still runs from the same Okinodai neighborhood storefront, open six days a week and closed Wednesdays outside holidays. The signature line runs from Matcha Gateau, described as a moist cake balancing the bitterness of green tea against a rich crumb, to Warai-ekubo, bite-sized treats filled with uguisu (warbler) bean paste, hand-crafted maru-boro cookies made by traditional methods, and monaka - wafer shells filled with red bean paste sourced from Hokkaido, one of Japan's most respected regions for the ingredient. That mix of matcha-forward Western-style cake and classic wagashi wafer work reflects a shop making both traditional and creative Japanese and Western sweets rather than specializing narrowly in one register. Orders can be placed in person at the small storefront, which has room for only six parking spaces, or shipped nationwide through the shop's online store - a modest footprint for a confectioner that has now been baking under the same family name for close to a century.