The Taneya group's confectionery complex, with grass-roofed buildings. The castella shop serves cake fresh from the oven; I had the Hachiman castella with tea.
615-1 Kitanosho-cho, Omihachiman, Shiga
Sources: taneya.jp macaro-ni.jp
This moment in the journey
A grass-roofed building and Hachiman castella
I passed beneath a great tree hung with a sacred rope and looked across at Hakuunkan, which stands before the shrine's torii gate. Built in 1877 as the Hachiman East School in a Western-influenced style, it now serves as the tourist information center.
My destination was La Collina Omihachiman, a grass-roofed building that looks like something out of a Ghibli film. A path leads between green fields toward roofs that seem to go on forever against the hills. Inside, castella in paper molds were being lined up one after another.
The shop is known for its Hachiman castella, served warm and fluffy from the oven. With tea and an hourglass before me and the grass outside the window, I tore into a cake whose shape begs to be broken by hand. Gently sweet; I felt I could eat it endlessly.
Watch this scene on YouTube2:39
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From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
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From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
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Hakuunkan
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From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
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