The Japanese are very serious about their food and that applies to their sweets too. They take great pride in crafting the best-tasting and best-looking desserts with lots of attention to detail. You can find them everywhere on the streets and locals seem to be crazy about them too. Since their main courses tend to be less vegetarian friendly, we went after their desserts and here are the 10 Japanese desserts we tried during our travel to Japan in the spring of 2024.

1. Ichigo Daifuku (Strawberry Mochi)

A popular classic spring dessert, Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku) is soft and springy mochi stuffed with a fresh whole strawberry and a sweet paste. We first tried this at a store just outside of the Fushimi Inari entrance, but they are popular everywhere in Japan.

2. Crunchy Strawberry Tanghulu (Candied Strawberry)

Another popular strawberry based dessert is their candied strawberry, typically sold at all the places that sell the strawberry mochi.

3. Sakura Mochi

These are Sakura inspired/colored seasonal mochis only available during spring when the Sakura trees are in bloom. These come in various forms but the one we tried was tri-colored on a stick. We tried this at one of the many street dessert shops on the Arashiyama Bamboo forest main road.

4. Miso Dango

Miso Dango are traditional Japanese rice dumplings smothered in an irresistible sweet soy glaze. The dumplings are skewered on a bamboo stick and enjoyed all-year round. We tried this again at one of the street dessert shops on the Arashiyama Bamboo forest main road.

5. Matcha Vanilla Baumkuchen

This vanilla and matcha flavored sponge cake is made in the form of a ring and sold in pieces. Perfectly palatable – never too sweat or overpowering on one flavor. We tried this again at one of the street dessert shops on the Arashiyama Bamboo forest main road.

6. Matcha Vanilla Soft serve

Another extremely popular dessert in Japan, the matcha flavor is infused in just the right amount to not overpower the vanilla sweetness. Makes for a very appealing dessert – visually and on taste as well. We tried this first on the Miyajima island and few times at different places in Japan after that.

7. Japanese Crepes

Japanese versions of the crepes are slightly different in taste and form. These come in various flavors and we tried the one with whipped cream and chocolate cake in one of the popular crepes store on the Takeshita street in Tokyo.

8. Matcha Vanilla Cake

Matcha and Vanilla are 2 flavors whose match is made in heaven. And so, this is another similar flavor combination cake one can find in convenience stores (such as Lawson, 7Eleven) in the form of packed dessert.

9. 10 Yen Pancake

These pancakes are filled with delicious custard cream and shaped into the form of a 10 yen coin. These are available at multiple places, especially in Osaka and we tried this at the entrance of the Osaka Castle.

10. Rikuro’s Cheesecake

Not exactly a Japanese dish, but a very popular nonetheless in Osaka, these super fluffy super delicious cheesecakes are sold by the store called “Rikuro” in Osaka. There are a few outlets in Osaka of this store and we tried this in one of their stores near Dotonburi.