ASAKUSA Underground > Dagashi - kitschy sweets
If you have a sweet tooth, why don't you try <dagashi>?
Dagashi have once been forgotten in Japan, but recently they are resurging in a little different context.
The word <dagashi> doesn’t indicate any particular type of sweets.
It is a collective noun for cheap sweets.
Etymologically speaking, <da> means "not precious"; <ka>, "fruits"; <shi>, "child, or little".
<Kashi> means "sweets, desserts" because, in the old days, we only had fruits for desserts.
Therefore, <dagashi> means "poor sweets" literally.
If we consult some dictionaries, they define the word <dagashi> as follows.
-Dagashi:
sweets made out of cheap ingredients.
(Shinsen Kokugojiten 6th Edition, Shogakkan)
-Dagashi:
simple and cheap sweets made out of raw sugar or cheap cereals like millet, wheat, and barley. "Penny" sweets.
(Daijirin 2nd Edition, Sanseido)
It seems that the word <dagashi> represents any forms of sweets if they are cheap.
If you go to a dagashi-ya / dagashi-shop, you will find plenty of sweets whose prices are 10 or 20 yen (9 or 18 cents of US dollar).
How about their tastes, then?
Well, they are poor sweets and savories.
One cannot say they are fantastically delicious, but the taste is attractive in a peculiar sort of way.
A dagashi-ya used to be a shop for children.
They would pop in there on the way home from school or on the way to the park; buy some candy bars, crisps, or typically traditional Japanese dagashi.
A dagashi-ya was a place for children to socialize.
The author of this article still cherish his fond memories of going to a dagashi-ya shop on the way from the public swimming pool.
He used to have miniature 2-minite-noodles for 50 yen (45 cents), and drink some unidentifiable soft drink made with plenty of artificial colorants that are hazardous to health.
The not-so-aware Japanese government at that time had not yet banned them.
Up until late eighties, the Japanese did not pay much attention to the safety of foods.
A dagashi-ya was like a showcase of harmful foods.
Most of the sweets and savouries were painted garishly with artificial colorants, and really looked questionable to consume.
Nevertheless, it was quite important for children to <go to a dagashi-ya>.
They didn't refuse to go there simply because their foods were not good for health.
No matter how artificially colourful they looked or no matter how weird they tasted, they ate them with pleasure.
At a dagashi-ya, a Japanese child used to learn how to enjoy eating out.
By managing their limited pocket money in order to buy various dagashi, they learned the joy of shopping, too.
Recently, fewer and fewer children can go to a dagashi-ya to socialize because the number of conventional dagashi-yas has decreased drastically.
On the other hand, we have more and more dagashi-yas marketed for adults.
A dagashi-ya has a nostalgic feeling of bygone days, the days when they grew up.
Besides, some Japanese adults find kitschy beauty in a dagashi-ya.
In the modern service industry in Japan, things are getting cleaner and cleaner, and more and more standardized.
It seems that only dagashi-yas refuse the tendency.
You can still find a stubbern granpa or a kind granma nonchalantly keeping a dagashi-ya without being obsessed with profit.
Such a attitude is very refreshing to the eyes of modern Japanese.
-Edo dagashi Mannendo Asakusa Denpo-in ten 江戸駄菓子 まんねん堂 浅草伝法院店
2-3-5 Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo, zip. 111-0032
10:00〜18:00 close on Wednesdays
To find out the exact location of the shop, use diddlefinger.
Since a dagashi-ya rarely put its publicity on Internet, it isn't easy to get much information about it.
Even geographically speaking, they are discreet.
Mostly, they keep the shop quietly on a back street.
When you find a dagashi-ya by accident, pop in there and enjoy lost Japan.
If you tell us about your experience and the address of the shop, we appreciate it greatly.
Dagashi - kitschy sweets
If you have a sweet tooth, why don't you try <dagashi>?
Dagashi have once been forgotten in Japan, but recently they are resurging in a little different context.
The word <dagashi> doesn’t indicate any particular type of sweets.
It is a collective noun for cheap sweets.
Etymologically speaking, <da> means "not precious"; <ka>, "fruits"; <shi>, "child, or little".
<Kashi> means "sweets, desserts" because, in the old days, we only had fruits for desserts.
Therefore, <dagashi> means "poor sweets" literally.
If we consult some dictionaries, they define the word <dagashi> as follows.
-Dagashi:
sweets made out of cheap ingredients.
(Shinsen Kokugojiten 6th Edition, Shogakkan)
-Dagashi:
simple and cheap sweets made out of raw sugar or cheap cereals like millet, wheat, and barley. "Penny" sweets.
(Daijirin 2nd Edition, Sanseido)
It seems that the word <dagashi> represents any forms of sweets if they are cheap.
If you go to a dagashi-ya / dagashi-shop, you will find plenty of sweets whose prices are 10 or 20 yen (9 or 18 cents of US dollar).
How about their tastes, then?
Well, they are poor sweets and savories.
One cannot say they are fantastically delicious, but the taste is attractive in a peculiar sort of way.
A dagashi-ya used to be a shop for children.
They would pop in there on the way home from school or on the way to the park; buy some candy bars, crisps, or typically traditional Japanese dagashi.
A dagashi-ya was a place for children to socialize.
The author of this article still cherish his fond memories of going to a dagashi-ya shop on the way from the public swimming pool.
He used to have miniature 2-minite-noodles for 50 yen (45 cents), and drink some unidentifiable soft drink made with plenty of artificial colorants that are hazardous to health.
The not-so-aware Japanese government at that time had not yet banned them.
Up until late eighties, the Japanese did not pay much attention to the safety of foods.
A dagashi-ya was like a showcase of harmful foods.
Most of the sweets and savouries were painted garishly with artificial colorants, and really looked questionable to consume.
Nevertheless, it was quite important for children to <go to a dagashi-ya>.
They didn't refuse to go there simply because their foods were not good for health.
No matter how artificially colourful they looked or no matter how weird they tasted, they ate them with pleasure.
At a dagashi-ya, a Japanese child used to learn how to enjoy eating out.
By managing their limited pocket money in order to buy various dagashi, they learned the joy of shopping, too.
Recently, fewer and fewer children can go to a dagashi-ya to socialize because the number of conventional dagashi-yas has decreased drastically.
On the other hand, we have more and more dagashi-yas marketed for adults.
A dagashi-ya has a nostalgic feeling of bygone days, the days when they grew up.
Besides, some Japanese adults find kitschy beauty in a dagashi-ya.
In the modern service industry in Japan, things are getting cleaner and cleaner, and more and more standardized.
It seems that only dagashi-yas refuse the tendency.
You can still find a stubbern granpa or a kind granma nonchalantly keeping a dagashi-ya without being obsessed with profit.
Such a attitude is very refreshing to the eyes of modern Japanese.
-Edo dagashi Mannendo Asakusa Denpo-in ten 江戸駄菓子 まんねん堂 浅草伝法院店
2-3-5 Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo, zip. 111-0032
10:00〜18:00 close on Wednesdays
To find out the exact location of the shop, use diddlefinger.
Since a dagashi-ya rarely put its publicity on Internet, it isn't easy to get much information about it.
Even geographically speaking, they are discreet.
Mostly, they keep the shop quietly on a back street.
When you find a dagashi-ya by accident, pop in there and enjoy lost Japan.
If you tell us about your experience and the address of the shop, we appreciate it greatly.