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Run by a local Miyoshi sweets manufacturer that has been delighting locals with tasty treats since the Meiji era (1868-1912), Shohei Honke is a traditional sweets shop and cafe right at the center of Miyoshi’s old Hondori shopping street. Backed by over a century of sweets-making history, customers still flock to the stately stone building for a combination of traditional Japanese confections and European-influenced desserts, including some unique Miyoshi specialties, and travelers often settle down in the cozy seating area to take a break and soak up the Miyoshi atmosphere.

Shohei Honke makes about 50 different Japanese desserts and pastries, with seasonal options rotating in and out throughout the year. Some of those sweets are traditional treats from Japan or the world of European pastries, but many of them are a unique combination of Japanese and foreign inspiration. The pastry chefs at Shohei Honke sometimes spend half a year refining a recipe until they’re finally satisfied with the finished product and ready to offer it to the public! You can taste the care put into each item, and feel it in the soft texture of the dorayaki pancakes or the delicate balance of the red bean fillings.

Perhaps the most special part of Shohei Honke’s selection, however, is the ingredients that go into every item. This sweets shop uses only local ingredients, from the flour in the cakes to the nuts sprinkled on top, making every bite a taste of Miyoshi!

With so many options lining the shelves and filling baskets, it can be hard to decide what to try at Shohei Honke, but it’s hard to go wrong with a classic! Some of the products available are made using the same traditional recipes as when they were first sold back in 1890, and customers will come to the shop and gush about the nostalgic flavors that taste just like their childhood, so many decades in the past. Among those products are the walnut cakes and the “awayuki manju.” Awayuki is a traditional Miyoshi delicacy with a mild, sweet flavor, and a unique texture somewhere between a marshmallow and a meringue. At Shohei Honke, they fill the awayuki with red bean paste, for a taste of vintage Miyoshi! 

Some of Shohei Honke’s customers tend to gravitate towards more recent creations, like the shop’s karinto manju. These little cakes are filled with red bean paste, and the outer layer is a fried brown-sugar dough with little bits of wild sesame, making for a totally unique texture!

While all the sweets are available to go, Shohei Honke’s seating area offers a cozy place to take a break and savor the flavors with a cup of tea or coffee. The interior has a fun retro atmosphere, reminiscent of Japan’s Showa period (1926-1989), and the walls are decorated with old-fashioned traditional Japanese dessert molds. It’s the perfect place to enjoy a taste of Miyoshi’s traditional sweets-making history, while looking out the window onto the quaint cobbled road.