A sale of ikinari dango, a Kumamoto sweet made with sweet potato, began on the 22nd in the free space beside the main entrance on the first floor. Running through the 26th, the sale offers five kinds of ikinari dango and four kinds of manju, drawing sweet-tooth visitors in search of a homespun taste.
According to “Our Local Cuisine,” a website run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, ikinari dango is a sweet of sliced sweet potato wrapped in wheat-flour dough and steamed. In the Kumamoto dialect, “ikinari” means “simple, quick, right away”; the name is said to come from how quickly the dumplings can be made—and how readily they can be served to unexpected guests.
The five dango flavors are plain, purple sweet potato, chestnut, mugwort, and walnut, at 299–322 yen each including tax. The four manju flavors are kintoki bean, apple, brown sugar, and pumpkin, each 199 yen including tax.