Kikyou Shingen Mochi Candy 桔梗信玄餅アイスバー

The famous Japanese souvenir from Yamanashi’s Kikyouya is expanding its business again. Earlier this year we have seen the Kikyouya Shingen Mochi Popsicle, which retained all of Kikyouya Shingen’s strengths and made it into a popsicle. It was an absolute blast. We went to Fujiya Japanese grocery and saw this Kikyouya Shingen Candy on the shelf with their signature packaging. I knew immediately we have to buy one to try.

Strength: Easy access to the taste of Kikyouya Shingen

Weakness: The Mochi is tough to the point of unchewable.

Other packaged dessert

• Kikyouya Shingen Mochi Popsicle (5 Stars)

Distinct Gift Wrapped packaging

Kikyou Shingen has a distinct gift-wrap-like packaging. This design has been used on their original mochi dessert, carried onto their popsicle, now it’s also on the candy packaging. This is the signature packaging you won’t mistaken with another brand. At the bottom, you can see what original Kikyouya Shingen desserts look like on the left, and what the candy looks like on the right.

Rear of the packaging

The other side of the packaging looks a little less interesting. It has nutrition facts and origin of Kikyouya Shingen in Japanese. Here you can see what the original Kikyouya Shingen packaging looks like.

Individual packaging for candy

I poured out the content from the bag and found 16 individually packaged candy inside. These smaller packets have design that are congruent to the exterior. Floral prints was used in the background.

The actual Kikyou Shingen Mochi Candy

The first thing I have noticed was the hole on the side of the candy. This is usually an indicator of pumped-in stuffing. I was curious to see this because it tells me the mochi inside was once in liquid form.

Exterior of the candy has a rich sugary taste with the taste of baked soy bean. Unfortunately the mochi in the middle was quite disappointing. It was too tough to be considered as “mochi”. I bite into the same spot a few times with effort, but cannot chew through it. It was not a pleasant texture.

604 Food Critic Assessment

Yes, Kikyouya Shingen is popular in Japan, and the Kikyouya Shingen Mochi Popsicle tastes very good as well. However, the candy version did not live up to my expectations. The most essential part is the mochi, but the texture was ruined in exchange for shelf-life longevity. The package cost $2.99 for 16 candies, which is a convenient way for the taste of Kikyouya Shingen. That’s about the only value I see in these candies. I don’t really recommend them.