Akai Fusen (Red Balloon), a confectionery brand from Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, is releasing "Hanakago Chocolate" (はなかごショコラ) and "Hanakago Assort" as Nagasaki-area exclusives starting Thursday, October 1, 2026.
Hanakago Chocolate
Hanakago Chocolate, which was well received last year, is back again this season. The flavorful batter is made with almond powder and grass-fed butter*, blended with chocolate and baked until fluffy. This year the batter has been reworked for an even fluffier, moister texture. It is a different experience from the regular Hanakago, offered as an autumn and winter treat.
*Grass-fed butter is butter from dairy cows raised through pasture-based dairy farming. The cows are raised mainly on pasture grass, with feed used only as a supplement. Grass-fed butter makes up 85% of the butter used.
Product Overview
Product name: Hanakago Chocolate
Price: 5 pieces, ¥1,188 (tax included)
Release date: October 1 (Thu), 2026
Available at: Sasebo Gobangai store and others
Hanakago Assort
The Hanakago Assort is a Nagasaki-only box that lets you compare Hanakago, Akai Fusen's long-selling product, with Hanakago Chocolate. The 10-piece box also works as a gift.
The wrapping paper is designed with the image of "Nagasaki Hata," a traditional craft of Nagasaki. Based on a red, blue, and white tricolor scheme, it is scattered with motifs related to Nagasaki, making the box a fitting souvenir of Nagasaki or a memento of a trip.
Product Overview
Product name: Hanakago Assort
Price: 10 pieces, ¥2,268 (tax included)
Contents: 5 Hanakago and 5 Hanakago Chocolate
Release date: October 1 (Thu), 2026
Available at: Sasebo Gobangai store and others
Other Products
Gianduja Chocolate (Hakata-Exclusive, on Sale October 1)
Crisp tuiles baked with fermented butter, hazelnut and almond powder, and cocoa powder are sandwiched with rich gianduja chocolate. The dessert offers the thick, smooth flavor of gianduja. Fermented butter accounts for 91% of the butter used.
5 pieces, ¥1,296 (tax included)
Fondant Fromage
A popular cheesecake with a cheese custard enclosed inside a cheese souffle. It is made with Jersey milk from Hiruzen, an area rich in nature. The cake has a "fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth, rich" character, with a smooth texture and a gentle, milky flavor.
1 whole cake, ¥2,160 (tax included)
Lemon Cake
Finely chopped lemon peel is kneaded into the batter, and each cake is coated in lemon-flavored chocolate. Yukishio (snow salt) in the batter gives it a mild mouthfeel. The round, plump shape is cute and somehow nostalgic.
4 pieces, ¥1,296 (tax included)
8 pieces, ¥2,484 (tax included)
About Akai Fusen
Akai Fusen was born in Sasebo in 1968. In Sasebo and Fukuoka, the brand sells a range of Western-style sweets and souvenir confections, including its long-selling cheesecake and Hanakago.
Store Information
Hakata Station Maing Store
1F Hakata Station Maing, 1-1 Hakata Ekichuogai, Hakata Ward, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Hours: 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM (follows the facility's operating hours)
Sasebo Gobangai Store
Promenade East Zone 1F, 2-1 Shinminato-machi, Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture
Hours: 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM (follows the facility's operating hours)
Brand website: https://sucreyshopping.jp/akaifusen
