11 best wagashi cafés and shops in Tokyo

Come for the art, stay for the sweets. A visit to Yamatane Art Museum isn’t complete until you’ve stopped off at its café. The menu offers five kinds of colourful wagashi daily, which are inspired by the current art on display. You can be sure that these sweets taste as good as they look as they're produced by Kikuya, a well-established confectionary shop located in Aoyama. You can order one for ¥610, or pair it with a side of matcha green tea for ¥1,200.

Tsuruya Yoshinobu has been one of Kyoto’s leading confectionery stores since 1803. While the brand has several locations around Tokyo, the one inside Coredo Muromachi in Nihonbashi is the only location with a Kayu Chaya, where you can watch the confectionery chef handcraft kyogashi (wagashi from Kyoto) while you sit at the counter. You can choose among four of its seasonal kyogashi, which all come with a side of green tea for ¥1,430.

There’s also a separate café attached to it where you can try the popular kyokanze (¥1,254), a sweet red bean paste confectionery that comes with a side of green tea. There are also an array of other classic desserts like zenzai (sweet red bean soup with mochi), parfait and anmitsu (agar jelly cubes topped with red bean paste, mochi and black sugar syrup).

Not to worry if you don’t have time to sit down and eat – most of its creations are available for take out, too.

This café at Tokyo Mizumachi shopping complex in Asakusa is run by the popular Japanese confectionary store Ichiya in Hikifune. You’ll find wagashi here made using its housemade premium sweet bean paste.

The classic dorayaki (a small pancake sandwich) with a simple sweet bean filling is a popular choice, but it's worth venturing out into the other flavours like walnut butter, matcha cream and chestnut. There are also plenty of daifuku (mochi with a sweet bean paste filling) choices, but we recommend going for the black sesame daifuku or the winter-only ichigo (strawberry) daifuku if you’re looking for something a little different.

What’s more, there are plenty of parfaits and warm desserts that you can order to eat-in with a side of matcha green tea.

Ginza Fugetsudo is a sophisticated wagashi salon tucked away on the second floor of a nondescript Ginza building. Here wagashi are made fresh-to-order at the open counter – a rare experience, even in Japan. The wagashi on offer are seasonal, so during summer, you might be served a sweet resembling a green forest canopy, with tinted bean paste and topped with shimmering clear jelly. 

Toraya’s long and storied history dates back over 500 years and the company served as a confectionery supplier to the Imperial Court in Kyoto. The brand’s Akasaka location reopened in late 2018, with an elegant refurbishment. From the reception area, head to the third floor to see Toraya’s expertly crafted sweets, each resembling miniature artworks. If you’ve got time, take a seat in the spacious cafe and try wagashi with Japanese tea. On the basement floor, there’s a gallery with regularly changing exhibitions on wagashi culture and history, too.  

Come here for the complete experience: seasonal wagashi over seasonal brews. This tea salon is an expert in putting a fresh new twist on traditional Japanese confectionery, and you’ll be spoilt for choice with over 40 varieties of tea on its menu.