WAGASHI

Case Study 03

Nestled in Kyoto’s historic Nishijin district, Kanaya Masahiro is a venerable confectionery house founded in 1856. For generations, they have crafted storied sweets beloved by tea masters and connoisseurs alike, most notably their trademark confection, Shinseimamé. In this collaborative experiment, Kyoto Research Institute partnered with the shop’s sixth-generation lead, Wataru Kanaya, to explore the future of traditional Japanese confectionery.

Deconstructing and Updating Tradition

Our baseline for this project was Shinseimamé, the shop's signature confection since its founding. Its origins actually date back to the Muromachi period (14th–16th century), invented by the high priest Shinsei Shonin. In an era before refined sugar, it was simply roasted soybeans sprinkled with salt and coated in powdered radish leaves. Deep green and earthy, it was often likened to "moss-covered beans."

When the founder of Kanaya Masahiro was permitted to inherit the recipe centuries later, he introduced a series of brilliant adaptations that transformed it into a refined delicacy:

  • Taste: As sugar became widely available in the late Edo period, the flavor profile for tea sweets shifted from salty to sweet.

  • Ingredients: Improving logistics allowed the shop to source high-quality aonori (seaweed) from coastal estuaries to replace the radish leaves, and rich Tamba black soybeans to replace standard soybeans.

This history reveals that Shinseimamé was never static; it was a masterful "material update" driven by the evolving logistics, terroir, and social systems of its time.

Endless Experimentation: Beyond the Constraints of Color

Modern Shinseimamé retains its signature green hue through the use of aonori, paying homage to the original radish leaves. However, Kanaya-san recently began asking a provocative question: "What happens if we step away from this constraint of color and experiment with entirely different materials?" This curiosity led him to develop small-batch variations using hojicha, kinako, and ceremonial matcha.

This is where Kyoto Research Institute’s expertise came in. Using our Materials Archive, we initiated a joint experiment to push these boundaries further. We went through countless iterations, testing raw ingredients and adjusting proportions down to the milligram. By marrying the intuitive hand-craftsmanship of a master confectioner with our institute’s analytical approach, we arrived at entirely new expressions of flavor and texture.

Yet, this rigorous process also humbled us. It reminded us that things loved for centuries remain unchanged for a reason. The original, seaweed-scented Shinseimamé possesses an unparalleled harmony—a flawless formulation that cannot be outdone.

By allowing this ancestral, living knowledge to intersect with contemporary intuition, we hope these new iterations offer a fresh yet deeply rooted companion to the next generation's tea rituals.