Yamada Ya

Yamada Ya is an omanju joint that also serves vanilla or chocolate softserve and green tea. In the summer time, they serve kakigori, a sweet dessert made of shaved ice, flavored syrup, and sweetened condensed milk. By the time I arrived in Niimi, kakigori season was already over AND they just began serving omanju. After 4:00 in the afternoon Yamada Ya is packed with school kids who enjoy their afternoon snack.

Yamada Ya is run by a sweet, older couple. The husband makes the omanju. He squeezes the batter from a pastry bag that hangs from a wire, which acts like a pully. The batter filled bag glides over each omanju mold where he squeezes the batter. While the batter cooks, he'll scoop up the anko (red been paste) and gently place a little bit of anko onto the cooking batter. Then, he'll squeeze more batter into vacant molds until they cook, and when they're ready, he'll place them on top of the batter filled molds with anko. Then he'll trim the edges and the omanju are ready to serve. It's a little bit like having a waffle filled with sweet red been paste, but much better.

The wife prepares and serves the softserve and tea. One day the couple's grandson came home from school running through the store and into the family home, which is above the store. Shortly after, Roslynn and I noticed her preparing several soft serve cones. She then put them on a tray and brought them upstairs. An afternoon snack for the kids. Oh, I would love to be one of her grandkids and have omanju and softserve as an afternoon snack each day.

Sometimes I'll have vanilla softserve, red bean omanju, and green tea. I'll smell the cooked batter of the omanju before I begin with nibbling around the edges where the bottom and top halves come together. It's not long into enjoying the omanju that I have to get started on my softserve cone before it starts to melt. It's like heaven: omanju, vanilla softserve, green tea, Yamada Ya. I'm usually hungry after eating everything and it's so tempting to order another round, but I don't. It gives me something to look forward to for the next time I'm in Niimi.