You have to be very lucky to try this can of ice needles.

In Japan, some sweets are so difficult to obtain they’ve been dubbed “phantom sweets“. The rarity of these confections only make them even more sought after, and that’s certainly the case with a candy called Shimobashira, produced by Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture.

Sold only in winter, these sweets are so delicate it’s impossible for them to be mass produced, leading them to only be available in small quantities, and for a limited time each year. The elusive nature of the product means not a lot of people know about them, but luckily for us, our reporter Mariko Ohanabatake was clued on to them, following a childhood experience when she first tasted them at a wintertime tea ceremony. The deliciously crunchy and mysterious texture remained unforgettable to her for more than 30 years, and despite trying many kinds of tea ceremony sweets in the years since, none has had a greater impact on her than this one.

▼ Shimobashira translates as “Frost Pillars“, more commonly known as “ice needles“, which form on the ground as frost.

In an effort to try the memorable sweet again, Mariko searched for it online last winter, but as she didn’t know the name for it, she resorted to using keywords like “white”, “crispy” and “candy”. It took her a while, but lo and behold, she eventually tracked down the name of the sweet and the store that made it, although this would turn out to be only the first step in a longer journey to actually get her hands on the item.

▼ First step — finding the sweet at Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa’s online store.

Screenshot: Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa

After visiting the online store, she found that the item was sold out, as it’s only sold once or twice a month in winter. Making things even more difficult was the discovery that the store only announces sales on their social media channels the moment the sweets become available, with no prior warning, so if you’re not online to see the post or tweet, chances are they’ll be sold out before you get a chance to visit the website.

Screenshot: Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa

After gathering this information, Mariko bided her time, registering her details with the store online so she could be ready to pounce the moment sales began. She’d heard stories of people missing out on the sweet at checkout, despite adding the item to their carts, due to it selling out in seconds, so she was determined to be as prepared as possible.

Alas, she ended up having to wait over a year for her chance to pounce, because the next sales date for the Shimobashira turned out to be 20 November.

Even then, she was unable to purchase the sweet on its own for 4,320 yen (US$28.42) as it had already sold out, forcing her to spend a bit more to purchase an expensive gift set that included the sweet, which set her back 6,048 yen.

Still, if it tasted as sublime as she remembered, the price would be worth it, so her hand trembled with excitement as she took the can out of the box and readied herself to come face-to-face with the sweet again after 30 years.

Lifting the top of the can, she was met with an inner lid that helped to seal in freshness.

The lid was sealed tight, so her trembling hands ended up scattering the powder from inside when she opened it.

This is rakugan powder, with rakugan being a traditional dry confectionery made from extra-fine sugar and glutinous rice, commonly served at Japanese tea ceremonies. The superfine nature of the grains works to resemble snow while also safeguarding against moisture and protecting the candy from impact, and Mariko could see one of the candies peering out from the centre of it all.

Reaching for it with two fingers, Mariko gave the edge a gentle tug and loosened it from the mound, like a magical sword from a stone.

▼ There it was, glistening in the light — Shimobashira, one of the rarest candies in all of Japan.

Mariko squealed in delight as she saw it looked exactly how she’d remembered it. In fact, it seemed even more beautiful, as if a shard of frost glistening in the morning dew had been instantly turned into a candy. Placing it in her mouth, she sank her teeth into it and heard a pleasant crunch, which gave way to an elegant sweetness that slowly captivated her palate.

▼ The sound and texture was like stepping on a frozen fractal, with the appearance and taste embodying the winter frost.

“Has there ever been such an elegant confectionery?” Mariko wondered, as she gazed at the beauty of the shards in the powder while letting the taste of the sweet wash over her.

The sticks of frost were beautifully concealed within the powdery snow, so she had to empty some of the powder out to get to them.

▼ This added another fun element to the taste adventure.

Shimobashira is very sensitive to moisture, so the instructions advise you to pour the powder back into the can as soon as you pull out your desired pieces.

▼ Pluck…

▼…and cover!

Mariko was amazed at the unique, light-yet-crunchy nature of the sweets, and even more impressed when she found it was achieved by kneading and stretching the candy by hand during the creation process. After trying the shards of frost, she’s now firmly of the opinion that a taste this delicate can’t be mass-produced, and the store’s skill in crafting sweets is clearly evident in everything they offer, including the other items in the gift set.

▼ Kokonoe, a sweet that shares its name with the store, was once presented to Emperor Meiji (1867-1912) on a visit to Sendai.

Kokonoe has been in business since 1675,  and this sweet is one of its best sellers. It has a beautiful appearance that looks like konpeito sugar candy but it sits somewhere between a tea and a sweet, as hot water has to be poured over it before it’s consumed.

It’s an elegant sweet with a delightful taste and texture, and Mariko rated it highly, alongside the Kokonoe Kuzuyu.

Kuzuyu is known as “arrowroot tea”, although it’s more of a sweet concoction with a syrupy, honey-like consistency. Served up as powder, it too needs the addition of hot water, but this one is unique in that it contains colourful flakes that make it look like a starry galaxy.

Another surprise in the gift set was Mori no Yubeshi, a famous sweet with a history that dates back 300 years, when it was served to members of the revered Date samurai clan. With crunchy walnuts embedded in a plump, jelly-like rice cake seasoned with soy sauce, this has an addictive salty sweet flavour.

Rounding out the gift set is a trio of monaka, with separate red bean paste sachets for you to add as fillings, providing premium levels of crunch and freshness.

In the end, Mariko was glad to have purchased the set, as everything she tried was incredibly delicious and crafted with high-quality attention to detail.

▼ Elegant and sweet, with a sense of simplicity and refinement.

It’s not every day you get to try so many sweets from a traditional store with centuries of history behind it, and it’s even rarer to get a taste of the sell-out Shimobashira candy, so this was a memorable day for Mariko.

She now hopes she doesn’t have to wait another 30 years to try it again, so she’s keen to catch the next surprise sales announcement from the store, which you can keep an eye out for on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Related: Kokonoe Honpo Tamazawa
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