Shimokitazwa Senbei Shop
In Shimokitzawa I found this beautiful little senbei shop, Tamaiya (玉井屋) just at the start of the North Exit shopping street, Ichibangai. There are quite a few of these old rice-cracker shops left here and there in Tokyo but I wonder for how much longer. Usually they are in prime real estate location and the next time I pass here I hope it’ll still be around. Every jar contains a different cookie and I think it might be difficult for the average tourist to shop here since all the prices are in kanji (Chinese characters) but generally you can get a small bag of something for no more than 500 yen. If you like hard (sometimes teeth-shatteringly hard) crackers with salt, soy or sea-weed flavor, these kinds of stores are definitely for you! You can buy cheaper but factory made crackers in all convenience stores and super markets as well, but these little shops are far more worthy of our cracker money!
Tokyobling's Blog 
[…] In Shimokitzawa I found this beautiful little senbei shop, Tamaiya (玉井屋) just at the start of the North Exit shopping street, Ichibangai. There are quite a few of these old rice-cracker shops left here and there in Tokyo but I wonder for how much longer. Usually they are in prime real estate location and the next time I pass here I hope it'll still be around. Every jar contains a different cookie and I think it might be difficult for the average … Read More […]
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thanks, bro! I can’t eat wheat and some of these are great, I like to hear about all yummies I can eat(heads up for others some of these may have some wheat in them) but I’m coming back to the Nippon land I love soon, and I want to check out all the festival, cultural event action-and write/photo about it, tabun!
I’m sure you’ve mentioned but what camera u using?
maybe not the place but other almost as cool blogs like yours?
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Hi Wishy! Rice crackers rule! Hope that you can be back here soon. I’m using (for this blog) a bunch of different cameras, D60, D90, D700, D3s, Ricoh GRII, even iPhone! But this last month it’s mostly been the D3s (to get all the action of the festivals). I know it’s total overkill but hey, I have one, so I might as well use it. For writing and good photography I often check out Fritz’s German language blog http://tokyofotosushi.wordpress.com/ or you might want to check out Slouchingsomewhere’s blog http://slouchingsomewhere.wordpress.com/ (she is retrospectively blogging about a trip to Japan and covers a lot of stuff I COULD cover but have missed. (^-^;) A lot of the people who comment on this blog have their own blogs about Japan, so just click around in the comments section and see what you can find!
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Oh so charming and so beautiful! I love the large round globes with different osenbei inside. My Baba always mail-orders them to get the hardest ones possible… she complains that young people these days have bad teeth because they only eat soft foods…
Shimo-kitazawa is always on my way home from Shinjuku to Machida, so I should stop there sometime!
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Yes, the glass is fantastic! Your baba is a wise woman indeed! Senbei is (and I’m 99% correct in this statement) the only thing you actually MUST chew here in Japan. Practically everything else can be gulped down. Even the fabulous Japanese kobe beef is so soft it melts in your mouth. I don’t know why that is, the only marginally hard food after senbei would be apples… perhaps someone here can think of more Japanese food that must be chewed? Oh, Japanese never eat raw carrots. Before you suggest it (^-^)
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Hmmm… I’ll have to think about that. The other thing that is good for your teeth is dried squid… gives your mouth muscles a workout (and has a 100% seal of approval from my health-obsessed Baba!) hahaha
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Ah, the dried squids! Right you are my friend, it is one more chewy item on the menu here in Japan. Unfortunately, I can’t think of a single person around me under the age of 85 who eats those things. I guess these are also quite chewy… (^-^)
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Posts like this that makes your blog so… valuable.
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Thank you Alec! Hope to have you back here soon again!
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Nice and yummy post!
This shop is very beautiful and has a pleasant old fashioned atmosphere!
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I know I’ll sound like a little old lady when I say this, but I love old fashioned, anywhere in the world! (^-^)
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[…] credits: 1-5. me, 6. via Tokyobling, 7. via Rekishi no Tabi, 8-10. all Country Living Magazine, 8. photo credit: Michael Luppino, […]
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