Name: Edward Grinewhich-Yonashiro
City: Kyoto, Tokyo, Nara
3 gifts I would pick: Charcoal bath and beauty products, Karinto
(traditional Japanese sweets), and Hana Fukin kitchen cloths.
2
1
(Sumi) Charcoal Bath and
Beauty Products
(Karinto) A Traditional
Japanese Sweet
These short dark brown logs are a
crunchy and sweet traditional Japanese
snack. The deep-fried dough cylinders
are traditionally covered with a hardened
brown sugar glaze—the perfect pairing
for a cup of black coffee or a strong
cup of tea. Lately, many gourmet
snack shops are moving away from the
traditional brown sugar topping and
offering a variety of different flavours.
My Secret: Nihonbashi Nishikihorin
(www.nishikihorin.com), a karinto
shop located in the GranSta shopping
mall in Tokyo station, in Tokyo, Japan,
sells karinto in a variety of flavours.
At Nishikihorin, travellers can buy the
traditional style karinto, covered in brown
sugar, or opt for one of the thinner
varieties in flavours such as strawberrymilk, pickled plum, spicy burdock root,
green tea, or even milk-chocolate—to
name a few. For 1,130 yen (Rs 688), a gift
pack of three different flavours can be
bought from the shop.
Charcoal, “sumi” in Japanese, has been used for centuries
in Japan to purify water. Modern Japanese companies
have expanded the use of charcoal into a variety of bath
and beauty products. Jet-black face washes, pitch-black
body soaps, and inky bath salts are popular and among
both men and women in Japan. Adding a charcoal product
to a current beauty regimen will be a great way to share
your Japanese experience with a friend, or revisit the trip
for yourself.
My secret: The “Black Paint” store (www.blackpai