Tamaiya Honpo

Okashi-tsukasa Tamaiya Honpo is an old Japanese confectionary store by the Nagaragawa River in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture. The store offers ayu-gashi sweets, which are a Gifu speciality. The shop's signature item -- Nobori-ayu -- is modeled after the young ayu sweet fish that inhabit the pristine waters of the Nagaragawa River. This gem of a snack is a castella sponge baked with high quality flour and eggs, filled with the store’s special sweet rice paste.
Another popular item is the uniquely shaped Gekoku-jyo ayu, which is a biscuit in the shape of an ayu fish biting a cormorant. It’s a fun take on traditional cormorant fishing, with the animals’ roles reversed to depict a Japanese historical term known as “gekoku-jou”, or the overthrowing of one’s superior.
The main store has a courtyard decorated with a traditional Japanese aesthetic, and a tea room from which guests can enjoy matcha while gazing over the courtyard.
(photo courtesy: Tamaiya Honpo)