seen from Japan
seen from Japan
seen from Malaysia
seen from Germany
seen from Japan
seen from China
seen from Sri Lanka
seen from Malaysia
seen from Germany
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Germany
seen from Türkiye
seen from Türkiye
seen from Japan
seen from Japan
seen from Germany
seen from China
seen from Japan
I had this brilliant idea to put the glass container I was bringing to Tokara for the February tohyranse into a small pouch I sewed from fabric scraps a ways back, to make it less cold to hold in the chill, and it did the job perfectly.
I went a little later than I usually do, and passed a few people on the sidewalk a couple blocks away carrying small boxes or a larger container like mine, and could tell they had just picked up their wagashi orders.
Tokara-san was on vacation for two weeks ahead of Easter, which coincided with the usual tohryanse Sunday, so it was announced there would be no reservations and just first-come, first-served.
When I got there at 1:05pm, and the gate opened, there were about 50 people in line ahead of me. I did get wagashi but I gotta say, after that write-up in Saveur magazine in the fall, Tokara is no longer a Seattle secret.
While not officially listed as Tokara’s anniversary, I know this time of year is when that event is marked, and I am presuming that is why there was a wagashi for the August tohryanse that I have never seen in the last decade and which is not listed in the monthly selection.
That’s a plastic container that looks like bamboo and it’s full of mizu yokan, which is normally served as a sliced bar.
April tohryanse wagashi by Tokara, Seattle. Clockwise from top left: Cherry Mochi, Wakagi Cherry (konashi) and A Lover Of Amarena (yokan).
November tohryanse: Persimmon souvenir, Oribe manju and Boar mochi.
I was gifted what I presumed were teeny wagashi forks at Tokara’s tohryanse because it was also their tenth anniversary. Each fork has two tines, so ten tines for the 10th year.
That little fork worked like a charm when I had my snack and tea at home. I felt like a Parisian eating wagashi.
Sunday was also Tokara’s tohryanse, and I took @calyxaomphalos to get wagashi. We were also able to enjoy tea ceremony.
A note to @blacksunmagick: the woman pointed out she had special ordered the matcha from Japan last week, and it had arrived just the day before and been opened that morning.
When Tokara-san called to confirm my February tohyranse reservation, she asked how I’d been doing with all the recent snow, so I also inquired the same of her. She mentioned that some of the wooden steps at her shop were very slippery, so I asked if she’d like for me to bring some sand with me and come a bit early for her Sunday open house. She said yes, thank you!
The front steps were slippery where the building awning didn’t protect them, so I scattered some sand on those. I took one look at the snow on the access ramp, noticed a small trowel in a garden pot and in just a few minutes I got enough cleared on the ramp to get it working again. And I had enough sand for all of it too. Ta-da!
February’s wagashi were Ancient Camillia, Uguisu and Spring Under Snow.
