The one and only Wakayama famous confectionery “Kagero”, born from the spirit and craftsmanship.

SEN.RETREAT TAKAHARA offers a variety of sweets in your room as part of the All Inclusive Sweets.All of the 12 types of sweets are Wakayama’s best, and we held a ‘general election’ to see which was the most popular.The most popular by far was the Kagero.Kagero is a famous confectionery with an impressive dough that, as the name suggests, melts easily in the mouth.To find out how this confectionary, loved not only by the people of the prefecture but also by many others, was born and how it is made, we visited the manufacturer, Fukuryo Corporation in the town of Shirahama.

Like a mirage rising on Shirahama Beach

‘The fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth texture is the charm of this confection. It can’t be compared to anything else, and a kagero is just a kagero.’

That’s how Miki Yamada of the General Affairs Department describes it. She is a genuine fan of kagero, having grown up in her home town of Shirahama, and her love of kagero led her to change jobs last year from a different industry to become a firebrand. When I told her about the results of the general election, she was delighted with a big smile on her face.

As Mr Yamada passionately explains, the most distinctive feature of kagero is its texture. While leaving a thin, crispy texture on the surface, the inside is soft and fluffy, and when you notice it, it disappears as if it had melted away. Inside this delicate and delicate dough, the cream, which is not too sweet, is subtly assertive. A truly unique, sweet and beautiful aftertaste spreads in the mouth.

This confectionery, now a standard Wakayama souvenir, was created in 1987 (Showa 42). It was still the ‘3C era’, when the world was still buzzing with the new three sacred items (car, air-conditioner and colour TV). The current chairman, Hiroki Fukuda, was born in this year. The birth of his beloved son inspired the then president to ‘make sweets that even small children can eat’, and it took three years to create Kagero.

Fukurishi was originally a Japanese confectionery shop in the town. While trying out Western-style confectionery for the first time, he decided that he wanted to make confectionery that would disappear in a flash, like a mirage rising on Shirarahama, the white sand beach that is representative of Nanki-Shirahama. With its strong image as a Japanese confectionery up until then, Kagero was not a hit from the start. It first attracted attention when it was presented to Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress Showa and Crown Prince Michiko at the Kuroshio National Athletic Meet (26th National Athletic Meet) held in Wakayama Prefecture in 1971, and became widely known for its strange texture and gentle taste.

The thorough ‘customer first’ spirit behind the famous sweets

The sweets handled by SEN.RETREAT are selected by Morikawa Corporation, a coffee and food wholesaler in Tanabe City. Maho Morikawa, director of the company, who played a central role in the selection process, says: ‘Kagero is a confectionery that can be picked up with peace of mind. The two pieces in a small box are just right, and the bite-sized pieces can be eaten crispily. We chose these sweets because they are moderately sweet and we hope they will help you recover from the fatigue of travelling’.

According to Mr Morikawa, “everyone at Fukuryo-san is surprisingly homely and enthusiastic”.In fact, I was surprised to hear that during busy periods such as Christmas, even the president of the company comes in to help out.If there is a shortage of staff today, everyone naturally steps in to help, regardless of department or position.That’s our company culture,” says Yamada.To ensure that products can be provided without delay, the spirit of “customers first” is thoroughly practised within the company.This is why we do not mass-produce kagero, no matter how much demand there is, and we bake 40,000 kagero a day at the most, but the work of mixing the dough, inspecting and boxing them is done by hand.The dough, which is the key to the texture, is still made by skilled craftsmen who vary the kneading process according to temperature and humidity.The kneading process cannot be done by machine, and the texture can only be created by hand.We don’t want to cut corners in this process.This is certainly another example of the ‘customer first’ philosophy.

Limited ‘evolved’ sweets at the main café

At the café, which opened in 2016 after renovating the main shop, you can enjoy the ‘Nama Kagero’, an evolved version of the Kagero sweet. This is a limited edition sweet only available at the main shop, made with fresh cream and seasonal ingredients, and people from far and wide visit the café to try it. Of the 12 varieties, all but the plain ones change with the seasons, so you’ll never get bored no matter how many times you visit.

After discovering the charm of kagero at SEN.RETREAT, why not stop by the café as well?