Japan History and Culture

The Hiyoko Cakes  ( HIYOKO MANJU,ひよこ饅頭)

This is a popular Japanese sweet cake called “Hiyoko”. This special confection can be a good souvenir and gift.  A word “Hiyoko” means chick in Japanese.

The Hiyoko Cakes is a baby chick shaped sponge cake born in 1912 in Iizuka. The sponge cake is a little bit hard and is filled with white sweet bean paste.  People have since loved the pretty shape and the mellow flavor of bean jam in the skin of savory bun. This was ranked in an older ranking.   Actually, before Tokyo Banana, Hiyoko was the most popular souvenir of Tokyo.  People think this is a Tokyo specialty, but originally it comes from Kyushu. They do look very similar. Here is a comparison.  The one on the left is a Fukuoka Hiyoko, while the one on the right is a Tokyo Hiyoko.