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| Focus on OKAKI |
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| - Try Our Japanese Snacks / Candy |
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| Main Topic |
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| Seasonal Topics & Items |
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| Dear Sir and Madam, |
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| We at Hibiki-an THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your continued patronage and support.
We are pleased to offer useful information for your healthy life and continued
enjoyment of Japanese green tea. In this issue, we talk about 'Focus on OKAKI (Try Our Japanese Snacks / Candy)'. |
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Focus on OKAKI (Try Our Japanese Snacks / Candy)
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We would like to introduce some special features of our OKAKI handmade by Fujisawa Eiseido. The current Fujisawa is the third generation. His goal is to produce traditional handmade rice crackers at a reasonable price. Another principle of the third generation Fujisawa is bringing out the inherent good flavor of natural and wholesome foods without artificial additives.
- Steadfast adherence to traditional recipe and methods:
The third generation Fujisawa knows that OKAKI rice crackers handmade by traditional methods are the best and most delicious, though these traditional methods require much time and effort and can be quite expensive.
The third generation Fujisawa uses only rice (NOT rice powder) following traditional methods. OKAKI produced in modern factories are made from rice powder to save time and effort. However, using rice powder unfortunately fully ruins the flavor, so that it has to be strongly seasoned by additives. Traditional methods followed by Fujisawa Eiseido require double the time and effort, but the result is infinitely more delicious.
He has developed machines and devices of each process in order to follow traditional recipes.
- Adamantly sourcing only premium natural ingredients:
Fujisawa Eiseido uses the best quality ingredients available anywhere, on par with those used at RYOTEI restaurants. His recipes always pursue bringing out the natural flavor of premium ingredients, which are sourced from all over Japan, rather than pursuing production efficiency.
For example, KOMBU dried kelp is sourced from the Rausu region of Hokkaido prefecture, which is well known as the location from which the highest quality kelp is sourced. Rausu is also a production center of the highest quality sea urchins. The sea urchins' diet consists of only the highest quality kelp, thus the sea urchins are of the highest quality as well. The Rausu sea urchin is sold only to highest grade RYOTEI restaurants. When the KOMBU dried kelp is kneaded into the MOCHI rice cake dough, the excellent flavor is enhanced. From the viewpoint of production efficiency, it is easier to coat it on the surface of the OKAKI but Fujisawa knows that kneading KOMBU into the MOCHI provides the best flavor and thus, he adamantly kneads KOMBU into the MOCHI following Japanese tradition.
The other ingredients used by Fujisawa Eiseido: NORI dried laver seaweed, YUZU miso, ginger, shrimp, soy sauce and so on are all premium quality, and bring out the inherent premium flavor by Fujisawa's recipes and methods.
The Premium OKAKI flavor is brought by not only traditional recipe and premium ingredients but also continuous efforts. Would you enjoy the tradition with our tea at your green moment? |
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| Rice is polished just before steaming to bring out its natural fine taste. |
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| Rice should be steamed before kneading. It requires time and effort to follow the traditional recipe and methods. |
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| Kneading rice. It is very close to kneading rice by hand in the most traditional way. It is one of the essential processes required to bring out the natural fine taste of the rice. |
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| Drying process takes twice as long as modern OKAKI using rice powder. |
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| Fujisawa has developed machines that adhere to the traditional recipe and methods. |
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| Soy sauce. The label says no added chemicals or additive substances, and fine quality. |
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| Try Our Japanese Snacks / Candy page: click here |
Japanese Snacks / Candy shopping category: click here
(OKAKI is now temporarily Out of Stock. Available again soon.) |
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Japanese Snacks / Candy items |
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Japanese "Amuse-Bouche" (Foods to Amuse the Mouth)
Traditional Japanese Snacks / Candy pair beautifully with any kind of Japanese tea. Like the French "Amuse-Bouche" their purpose is to amuse the mouth or palate, in this case, while drinking green tea. Since 16th century Japan, they have been refined and improved upon over hundreds of years to create absolute harmony of flavor between the green tea and the delicious sweet confection or savory snack. Such as the feeling you get when you have green tea and sushi together, your palate understands that this is an ideal match of flavor... (more info) |
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OHIGASHI (handmade confectionary): US$23.00
OHIGASHI is one of the most traditional Japanese confectionary which is often served at Japanese tea ceremony and pairs very well with Japanese green tea. At last, we added OHIGASHI which is made at Tsuboneya, a confectioner in Kyoto well-known for their beautiful confectionary made by hand with careful attention to quality and detail...
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YOHKAN (sweet bean jelly): US$16.50
YOHKAN sweet bean jelly is one of the most popular and classic confections in Japan. We developed YOHKAN with an established AN bean jam manufacturer located in Kyoto. Our four flavors of YOHKAN are manufactured with careful attention to quality and domestic ingredients...
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OKAKI (handmade rice cracker): US$23.00 (Now temporarily Out of Stock. Available again soon.)
OKAKI rice cracker is one of the most popular and classic snacks in Japan. At last, we added OKAKI which is made at Fujisawa Eiseido known for creating OKAKI using a traditional manufacturing process with careful attention to quality and natural ingredients. This OKAKI is traditionally-made by hand using only natural ingredients sourced only in Japan...
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| Are you enjoying your green moments? Hibiki-an encourages those who love to drink green tea. If you have any requests or questions regarding our teas or services, please don't hesitate to contact us. We sincerely hope that you enjoy genuine Hibiki-an Japanese green tea direct to you from Kyoto, Japan. |
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| Sincerely yours, |
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| Atsushi Yasui |
Seasonal Topics & Items
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[New Year's Tea] Golden Celebration Tea |
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The combination of green tea with gold flakes makes a beautiful presentation. Gold is an ancient symbol of prosperity, and adds significance to any special occasion.
At Hibiki-an, we offer Golden Celebration Gyokuro and also Golden Celebration Matcha. Golden Celebration teas are also a perfect gift for any special occasion. It is a special moment, full of happiness and hope for the future.
Please sprinkle the gold flakes over each cup of tea after brewing or each bowl of Matcha after preparing the Matcha. The smooth flavor of Gyokuro or Matcha creates a peaceful atmosphere, and the lovely glimmering gold flakes as they float on the surface of the tea delights and occupies the mind.
We hope you enjoy the beauty and flavor of this special blend of gold and our finest tea.
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| The sparkle of gold flakes which float on the surface of the tea delights and occupies the mind |
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| Gold is an ancient symbol of prosperity and welfare |
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| Three packages of gold flakes are attached separately |
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Golden Celebration Gyokuro, Matcha and the Gift Set items |
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Gift Idea: Hibiki-an's Tea Bags |
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We would like you to rediscover the value of our Teabag items for Gifts. At Hibiki-an, we use only the highest quality tea leaves in our tea bags. Each specially-designed nylon bag is filled with whole-leaf tea, so you can enjoy the elegant flavor of genuine Japanese tea in no time at all. The individual tea bags are much larger than standard paper tea bags - over 2 x 2 inches in a unique pyramid shape.
We have designed our Teabag teas to brew quickly and easily in the shortest possible time, while still retaining the fullest flavor and aroma, even when brewed in a teacup and not a teapot. We finished each kind of tea leaf for our tea bags in a special way, so that they will brew easily with teacups in a very short time. Of course, like all our teas, our tea bags may be reused three times. Each infusion will have a unique flavor and aroma.
If you want a quick and easy way to enjoy genuine Japanese tea, our Teabag teas are perfect for you. And we are certain that it is also perfect for the office, taking along on a trip, and so on. Teabags are also a great way to introduce genuine Japanese tea to beginners who may not own a teapot!
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| We use only the highest quality tea leaves in our tea bags. |
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| Our Teabags allow enjoyment of genuine Japanese tea flavor anywhere. |
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| Teabags are also a great way to introduce genuine Japanese tea to beginners who may not own a teapot. |
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[New & Limited] Teapots / Cups, Matcha Bowls / Accessories |
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| We have arranged for 20 limited edition and new teapots / cups, and 16 limited edition and new Matcha Bowls / Accessories. The 13
limited edition items are all available only this autumn and winter season. |
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| Teapots / Cups shopping category: click here |
| Matcha Bowls / Accessories shopping category: click here |
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(Notice 1) New Shopping Page Design
New shopping page design was recently implemented on our website. It enables you to change the shopping page to display our products as a vertical list of item details, or as horizontal rows of product image tiles, depending on how you prefer to shop. You also can sort our products by price, grade, popularity, and so on. We hope this will make your visit to our website even more enjoyable. Would you please try it and see? |
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(Notice 2) Price Reduction on All Merchandise (Sep. 5th)
We reduced our prices approximately 5% to 10%, averagely 8.5% on all merchandise on our website due to recent exchange rate fluctuation. The updated price
was effective on and after September 5, 2014. We will continuously make
efforts to provide genuine Japanese tea and culture to our customers. |
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Account info
You can view your account info, including your order history, as well as change your email, password, or home address or add a new shipping address to your address book by clicking here.
Or if you prefer, we are happy to update your account info for you. Just let us know. Please don't hesitate to contact us!
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