Beautiful and elegant Japanese desserts are just another way Japan’s rich culture and traditional cuisine can wow you!
If you’re a foodie or have a sweet tooth, Japan is paradise on earth. Creating genuinely memorable Japanese desserts (デザート, dezāto) take more than merely whipping up some sugar and serving it to us. Conversely, the fact that the Japanese people put their souls, thoughts, and cultures into their sweets elevates them to a whole new level.
We’re delighted to share this blog post that follows our enthusiastic recommendations for some classic Japanese desserts. For those of you now studying Japanese, be sure to write down all the terminology we offer so you can avoid embarrassing situations like ordering the wrong name for a dessert in Japan when you visit.
What Is Wagashi, 和菓子?
It’s a term used to describe a traditional Japanese dessert that the locals have developed for a thousand years to go along with their beloved green tea. Wagashi only use plant-based ingredients, so naturally sweet fruits and nuts were utilized as sweets since sugar was costly in the past. Combined mochi, anko, and fruit make up this tasty treat.
Wagashi are traditional Japanese sweets eaten during celebrations. It’s common practice to present these to guests as gifts of appreciation on festive occasions.
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]和菓子[/Speechword]
Amazing Traditional Japanese Desserts
As we’ve already established, red bean paste is frequently used as the basis of traditional Japanese sweets. Here, 10 deliciously authentic Japanese desserts are listed below.

1. Daifuku – 大福
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]和菓子[/Speechword]
Daifuku is a Japanese confection consisting of a tiny circle of sweet bean paste or other fillings in a round of soft rice cake or mochi. Strawberries, beans, and ice cream are the popular fillings used in daifuku. A slight coating of potato flour has been applied to their surfaces to prevent them from sticking together.
2. Namagashi – 生菓子
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]生菓子[/Speechword]
Namagashi, the traditional Japanese dessert most closely linked to wagashi, was already described. It’s made with rice flour and a sweet bean paste filling. These seasonal treats take careful, hand-formed shapes representing the season and are served during the tea ceremony.

4. Dango – だんご
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]だんご[/Speechword]
Dango is little steamed sweet rice dumplings that are chewy and delicious. It’s used glutinous rice flour. You can get them skewered with a stick and covered in a sweet soy sauce or bean paste. Other sweets, such as anmitsu and oshiruko, also incorporate dumplings.
3. Dorayaki – どら焼き
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]どら焼き[/Speechword]
Do you know about the Doraemon anime series? Doraemon, a beloved character from the anime series, particularly enjoys dorayaki. You’ll find a layer of sweet red bean paste between two pancakes. Variations on the traditional dorayaki may use custard cream, whipped cream, and matcha-flavored cream as a filling.
5. Anmitsu – あんみつ
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]あんみつ[/Speechword]
Brown sugar syrup tops sweet bean paste, rice flour dumplings, fruit, and cubed kanten jelly in the Japanese dessert known as anmitsu. Japanese people also add a scoop of ice cream, which becomes “cream anmitsu.”

6. Yokan – 羊羹
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]羊羹[/Speechword]
Yokan, a hard jelly-like snack consisting of sugar and kanten agar, is sweet and jelly-like. You may choose from various tastes, including azuki beans, black sugar, and green tea. Yokan bars are often offered as single servings around the size of a pack of gum. Larger bars are meant to be split into smaller pieces.
7. Taiyaki – たい焼き
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]たい焼き[/Speechword]
It’s a fish-shaped delicacy prepared from a pancake-like batter. A traditional filling for taiyaki is sweet bean paste. Nowadays, it’s common to find taiyaki stuffed with custard cream, chocolate, or cheese. When the batter is still crunchy, taiyaki is at its best!
8. Monaka – 最中
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]最中[/Speechword]
Like taiyaki, Monaka is comprised of wafer molds filled with sweet bean paste. The wafer shells range from plain, spherical ones to those with elaborate patterns. Nowadays, a common variation on the traditional monaka is to stuff it with ice cream.

9. Oshiruko – おしるこ
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]おしるこ[/Speechword]
Oshiruko is a dessert soup combining a hot sweet bean soup with rice flour dumplings or grilled mochi. You may choose whether you want a smooth or lumpy red bean soup.
10. Manju – 饅頭
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]饅頭[/Speechword]
Manju is tiny buns filled with sweet bean paste or another sweet filling, then steamed or baked. Traditional ones have a uniformly smooth exterior and a spherical shape.
Words For Desserts And Snacks In Japanese
After exploring traditional Japanese desserts, now let’s move on to the vocabulary for basic desserts and some of the most popular Japanese desserts in this section.
English | Japanese | Romanji | Sound |
---|---|---|---|
Dessert | デザート | Dezāto | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]デザート[/Speechword] |
Dessert | 甘味 | Amami | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]甘味[/Speechword] |
Cake | ケーキ | kēki | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ケーキ[/Speechword] |
Cookie | クッキー | Kukkī | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]クッキー[/Speechword] |
Biscuit | ビスケット | Bisuketto | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ビスケット[/Speechword] |
Ice cream | アイスクリーム | Aisukurīmu | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]アイスクリーム[/Speechword] |
Rice cracker | 煎餅 | Senbei | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]煎餅[/Speechword] |
Miso butter cookies | 味噌バタークッキー | Miso batākukkī | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]味噌バタークッキー[/Speechword] |
Warabi mochi (Japanse confection) | 蕨餅 | Warabimochi | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]蕨餅[/Speechword] |
Japanese cheesecake (soufflé cheesecake) | スフレチーズケーキ | Sufure chīzukēki | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]スフレチーズケーキ[/Speechword] |
Matcha ice cream (green tea ice cream) | もちアイス | Matcha aisukurīmu | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]もちアイス[/Speechword] |
Mochi ice cream | もちアイス | Mochi aisu | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]もちアイス[/Speechword] |
Soft serve ice cream (Softcream) | ソフトクリーム | Sofutokurīmu | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ソフトクリーム[/Speechword] |
Fluffy Japanese pancakes (It’s usually topped with fluffy whipped cream, ice cream, and butter) | ふわふわパンケーキ | Fuwa fuwa pankēki | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ふわふわパンケーキ[/Speechword] |
Chiffon cake | シフォンケーキ | Shifonkēki | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]シフォンケーキ[/Speechword] |
Tiramisu | ティラミス | Tiramisu | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ティラミス[/Speechword] |
Strawberry shortcake | いちごのショートケーキ | Ichigo no shōtokēki | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]いちごのショートケーキ[/Speechword] |
Melon pan (classic Japanese sweet bread) | メロンパン | Meronpan | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]メロンパン[/Speechword] |
Japanese sweet potatoes | さつまいも | Satsumaimo | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]さつまいも[/Speechword] |
Coffee jelly | コーヒーゼリー | Kōhīzerī | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]コーヒーゼリー[/Speechword] |
Candied Sweet Potatoes | 大学芋 | Daigaku Imo | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]大学芋[/Speechword] |
Nama chocolate | 生チョコレート | Nama chokorēto | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]生チョコレート[/Speechword] |
Custard pudding | プリン | Purin | [Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]プリン[/Speechword] |
What Is Your Favorite Japanese Dessert?
Since you made it this far, we assume you found something in the blog that you want to try on your future vacation to Japan. Desserts in Japan can be classified as either traditional or fusion. When there are so many delicious sweets to choose from in Japan, it might be challenging to narrow down your options. But at least you can now have the name of a unique Japanese dessert to eat in Japan and a refreshing treat whenever you want.
Visualize yourself learning Japanese in the comfort of the hotel or home while munching on authentic Japanese sweets. Yes, you can do that with Ling!
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