Yatsuhashi

One of the best known meibutsu or regional specialty products of Kyoto, yatsuhashi is a type of wagashi - traditional Japanese confections that are often served with tea and sold mainly as souvenir sweets called miyagegashi.

Reflecting hundreds of years of the city’s history and traditions, this popular Kyoto meibutsu first appeared in 1689 and was named after Kengyo Yatsuhashi, a famous Japanese harp player and composer of koto music, which is why the most traditional yatsuhashi is shaped like koto.

Over time, Japanese omiyage or souvenir industry started introducing other varieties. Yaki yatsuhashi is a crispy baked, cinnamon-flavored cookie made from sticky rice flour, while its raw version called nama yatsuhashi is typically folded into a triangle and has a soft, almost mochi-like texture.

It most often comes flavored with green tea or black sesame, wrapped around the sweet red bean paste, but it's also available in a number of other flavors.