{"id":65,"date":"2026-11-10T17:30:46","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T08:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/?p=65"},"modified":"2026-11-10T17:32:55","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T08:32:55","slug":"kineya-himeji-make-your-own-wagashi-at-a-115-year-old-sweet-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/?p=65","title":{"rendered":"Kineya, Himeji: Make Your Own Wagashi at a 115-Year-Old Sweet Shop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A sweet shop older than the castle crowds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"2048\" src=\"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/himeji-wagashi-2-nerikiri.jpg\" alt=\"Seasonal nerikiri sweets\" class=\"wp-image-63\" srcset=\"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/himeji-wagashi-2-nerikiri.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/himeji-wagashi-2-nerikiri-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/himeji-wagashi-2-nerikiri-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/himeji-wagashi-2-nerikiri-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Himeji Castle gets the fame, but the castle town around it has its own quiet institutions. In the Nikaimachi shopping arcade, about ten minutes on foot from the station and the castle, Kineya has been making Japanese sweets since <strong>1911<\/strong> \u2014 more than 115 years of wagashi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The display case tells the seasons. In autumn it is kuri kinton \u2014 sweet chestnut paste shaped back into a chestnut \u2014 and jewel-like nerikiri, each one modeled by hand into persimmons, flowers and leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"2048\" src=\"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/himeji-wagashi-1-kurikinton.jpg\" alt=\"Kuri kinton chestnut sweets\" class=\"wp-image-64\" srcset=\"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/himeji-wagashi-1-kurikinton.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/himeji-wagashi-1-kurikinton-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/himeji-wagashi-1-kurikinton-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/himeji-wagashi-1-kurikinton-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kuri kinton: 3 pieces, \u00a51,400 (plus tax)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nerikiri (seasonal set): 3 pieces, \u00a5900 (plus tax)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My take on the kuri kinton: it is properly sweet, yet the texture and flavor feel quietly luxurious \u2014 smooth on the tongue, with the chestnut itself coming through clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The real prize: make wagashi yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What makes Kineya special for visitors is its <strong>wagashi-making workshop<\/strong>. Guided by a professional craftsman, you shape three seasonal nerikiri sweets of your own, in about 40 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sessions daily at 13:00 and 15:00<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u00a52,800 per person<\/strong>, reservation required (2 people minimum)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Same-day booking is sometimes possible if you call in the morning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Support available in English, Korean, Chinese and Thai<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For travelers, this is the Himeji experience most people miss: the castle in the morning, sweets by your own hand in the afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More than wagashi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kineya is also a Western-style confectioner (its signature is the Shosha Sennen-sugi baumkuchen) and runs a caf\u00e9-restaurant upstairs, so it doubles as a lunch or coffee stop between the station and the castle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Shop info<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Name:<\/strong> Kineya Nikaimachi Honten (\u6775\u5c4b \u4e8c\u968e\u753a\u672c\u5e97\uff09<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Address:<\/strong> 95 Nikaimachi, Himeji (Nikaimachi shopping arcade)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Access:<\/strong> About 7\u201310 minutes on foot from JR Himeji Station<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hours:<\/strong> 8:00\u201319:00 (closed Jan 1\u20132 only)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Phone:<\/strong> 079-285-3509 (workshop bookings: 079-267-2333)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By the author (Local Guide, based in Himeji &amp; Hiroshima). Prices and workshop details as of November 2026; check before you go.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If this guide helped you, you can support my work with a coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-35f06ea7 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.buymeacoffee.com\/hiraokasup\">Buy me a coffee<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ten minutes from Himeji Castle, Kineya has sold Japanese sweets since 1911. Seasonal nerikiri, chestnut kinton \u2014 and a hands-on workshop where you make wagashi with a craftsman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69,"href":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions\/69"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/63"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himeji-gourmet.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}