Tabiwaga (Tabi Suru Yō ni Wagashi to Deau), an online store specializing in selected wagashi, is now selling the second and third installments of its collaboration series with long-established wagashi shops, "A Little Weekend Indulgence: Reward Wagashi."
- The second installment is the "Chocolate-Covered Thunder Donut" (チョコまみれの雷ドーナツ) from 餡焚き屋中井 in Izumi, Osaka
- The third installment is the "Revived Sanbai Mochi Tiger-Skin Roll" (復刻・三杯もちのとら皮巻) from 菓子司つじや in Daisen, Akita
Both are sold on the official Tabiwaga website in a limited run of 100 units each.
Wagashi Shops Create a New Kind of Reward Experience
Second Installment: Chocolate-Covered Thunder Donut (餡焚き屋中井)
The "Thunder Donut" (雷ドーナツ) is a donut-style treat made by wrapping mochi and sweet bean paste in a light dough and deep-frying it, giving a new crisp-yet-chewy texture. For Tabiwaga, 餡焚き屋中井 has created chocolate bean paste and strawberry bean paste versions of its signature product, available only through the store.
The two flavors are a rich "chocolate bean paste" and a sweet-tart "strawberry bean paste," sold together in a box of six, with three chocolate and three white chocolate pieces.
Chocolate bean paste: House-made smooth sweet bean paste (koshian) mixed generously with chocolate and finished with a touch of rum for a grown-up flavor. The surface is coated in chocolate, with cacao nibs adding a textural accent.
Strawberry bean paste: House-made smooth white adzuki bean paste (shiro-azuki koshian) paired with house-made jam from Beni Hoppe strawberries. It is coated in white chocolate and topped with sweet-tart freeze-dried strawberries.
Third Installment: Revived Sanbai Mochi Tiger-Skin Roll (菓子司つじや)
The "tiger-skin roll" (とら皮巻) was made as a gift sweet (hikigashi) for weddings, funerals, and other ceremonial occasions until around the mid-Showa 50s (about 1980).
This nostalgic wagashi has been revived, with "Sanbai Mochi" (三杯もち), a local confection of Omagari, Akita, rolled in castella skin baked by hand one sheet at a time.
As the gift sweets chosen at ceremony venues shifted to longer-lasting, more eye-catching items and catalog gifts, the tiger-skin roll stopped being made. 菓子司つじや, which puts "protecting the region's traditional sweets" first, revived the method it had once lost so that today's craftspeople can pass it on to future generations.
No two patterns alike: Each castella skin is baked by hand, one sheet at a time, and the pattern left on the surface by the baking mold is different on every piece.
The same taste as before: The ingredients and basic production method have not been changed. Once rolled, the finished product is frozen in a quick-freezing machine that maintains high freshness, preserving its flavor.
Product and Sales Information
Second Installment Collaboration Product
- Product Name: Chocolate-Covered Thunder Donut (チョコまみれの雷ドーナツ), box of 6 (3 chocolate, 3 white chocolate)
- Price: ¥2,463 (tax included)
- Quantity: Limited to 100 units available only through Tabiwaga (while supplies last)
- Where to Buy: Official online store of Tabi Suru Yō ni Wagashi to Deau
- Orders Accepted Until: October 27 (Tuesday), 2026
- Product Page: https://www.tabisuruwagashi.com/view/item/000000001559
Osaka / Izumi — 餡焚き屋中井
The shop is devoted to making bean paste, the heart of wagashi, with the wish that people will "truly taste delicious bean paste." Sparing no effort in selecting ingredients or in the work involved, it carefully simmers its bean paste every day, just as its name suggests.
Third Installment Collaboration Product
- Product Name: Revived Sanbai Mochi Tiger-Skin Roll (復刻・三杯もちのとら皮巻), 1 roll
- Price: ¥2,200 (tax included)
- Quantity: Limited to 100 units available only through Tabiwaga (while supplies last)
- Where to Buy: Official online store of Tabi Suru Yō ni Wagashi to Deau
- Orders Accepted Until: November 6 (Friday), 2026
- Product Page: https://www.tabisuruwagashi.com/view/item/000000001635
Akita / Omagari — 菓子司つじや
Located in Daisen, Akita, a city known for the "Omagari Fireworks," this long-established shop has a 160-year history. It uses no preservatives or additives and still follows its original production methods, continuing to make its sweets with the wish to "keep passing them on as part of Akita's food culture."
"Tabiwaga to.", a Collaboration Project with Wagashi Shops
Titled "Tabiwaga to." (旅わがと。), this project is a series in which Tabiwaga collaborates with wagashi shops across Japan to propose new possibilities for wagashi.
First Theme
"A Little Weekend Indulgence: Reward Wagashi"
More collaborations with new wagashi shops are planned.
