Home/Ehime/Shikokuchuo/Kirinomori Daifuku

Kirinomori Daifuku

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Kirinomori daifukuShingu teaShikokuchuomatcharoadside station

Photo: Dokudami / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · original

Kirinomori Daifuku is the kind of Ehime food stop that locals recommend before any restaurant with a sign in English.

Shingu, in the mountains of Shikokuchuo, grows tea without agricultural chemicals, and the daifuku made from it has become one of the more sought-after sweets in Japan. It is built in four layers: cream at the centre, then smooth red bean paste, then a mochi skin with matcha kneaded into it, and finally a dusting of matcha over the whole thing.

It is difficult to buy. Mail order runs months behind and the shop regularly sells out before closing, which has given it a reputation as a phantom sweet — a description the maker has not discouraged. The roadside station at Kirinomori sits beside the Shin-gu interchange with a tea house, a restaurant, a natural hot spring and cottages, so the trip is not wasted if the daifuku has gone. The confectionery workshop is in the village itself.

Eating essentials

Price range

Daifuku priced by the piece or box — confirm current prices in store

Best season

Year-round | Morning, before it sells out

Hours

10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Closed: Closed Mondays, or the following day when the Monday is a holiday | Open daily April–August

How long to allow

30–60 minutes | Longer with the roadside station and hot spring

Finding the spot

Directions

Kirinomori Kashi Kobo Shingu Honten, Umatate 4491-1, Shingu-cho, Shikokuchuo. Beside the Shin-gu interchange on the Kochi Expressway. Closed Mondays, or the following day when the Monday is a holiday; open daily from April to August. Mail order runs several months behind and the shop frequently sells out before closing. The adjoining Michi-no-Eki Kirinomori has a tea house, restaurant, hot spring and cottages. Phone.

Insider tips

**It sells out.** Regularly, before closing. Arriving in the morning is the only reliable approach, and even then there is no guarantee. **Mail order is months behind.** Ordering online is not a shortcut — the waiting list runs into months. **Four layers.** Cream, red bean, matcha mochi, matcha dust. Knowing the construction before you bite into it is worth doing. **Closed Mondays except in summer.** Open daily from April to August, closed Mondays the rest of the year with a holiday shift. **The roadside station makes the trip worthwhile anyway.** Natural hot spring, restaurant, tea house and cottages beside the expressway interchange. If the daifuku is gone, the rest is still there.

View on Google Maps