Otaru Noh Theatre Japanese Tea Tray

"Wazambon sugar," a rare sugar essential for Japanese traditional sweets and a part of Japan's traditional food culture, is said to have once been transported to Otaru from Sanuki (Kagawa Prefecture) and Awa (Tokushima Prefecture) by Kitamae-bune ships. Furthermore, Otaru is home to the "Former Okazaki House Noh Stage (Otaru City Noh Theater)," the only Noh stage in Hokkaido, built by Ken Okazaki, a wealthy merchant from Sado. The "Otaru Noh Theater Tea Tray" expresses the Noh culture that Kitamae-bune ships brought to Otaru through "Uchi mono" (pressed molding) using wooden molds.

These sweets are handcrafted by Otaru's Japanese confectioners using auspicious shapes such as boats representing Kitamae ships, female Noh masks, and pine, bamboo, and plum. They come in four flavors: yuzu tea, plum kelp tea, roasted green tea, and matcha. They melt in your mouth softly and have a refined sweetness.
The package is decorated with the "kagamiita" (mirror panel) of an old pine tree painted at the back of the Noh stage.
We will bring to mind the history of the Kitamaebune ships and the Noh culture that is deeply rooted in Otaru. Please enjoy Wasanbon, flavored with four types of tea.

Former Okazaki Family Noh Stage (Otaru City Noh Theater)
The Former Okazaki Family Noh Stage (Otaru Noh Theater) was built by Okazaki Ken, a wealthy merchant from Sado, at his home in Otaru. Sado, where Okazaki spent over 10 years of his childhood, was home to many people involved in the shipping industry, such as Kitamae-bune shipowners and shipbuilders, and prospered as a port of call for Kitamae-bune ships. During the Edo period, the area was also home to gold mines that were directly managed by the shogunate, and officials were dispatched from the central government to the area from time to time. The first Sado magistrate came from a family of Sarugaku (Noh was called Sarugaku until the Edo period) masters, which led to the area becoming a thriving place for Noh.
Okazaki, who had been familiar with Noh theater since he was a child in Sado, studied Noh in the Konparu school while attending Tokyo Commercial School (now Hitotsubashi University), and after returning home, he was so devoted to Noh that he built a Noh stage in his home. The Noh stage, completed in 1926, was made using specially selected materials such as Jindai cedar from Sado, cypress from Kyushu, and pine from Hokkaido, and the pine paintings on the panel and bamboo on the door opening were commissioned to be painted by Kano Mochinobu, the 17th head of the Kano school, ensuring that it met the highest standards of elegance established during the Edo period.
He worked hard to popularize Noh culture not only in Otaru but also in Hokkaido, inviting Noh performers from Tokyo to perform on the completed stage. After his death, in accordance with his will, the stage was donated to Otaru City in 1954, where it has remained to this day.