Why are we special? - OKASHIGOTEN

One of the special products of Okinawa prefecture, purple sweet potatoes, is a notable healthy food which contains rich nutrition. People in Yomitan village initially started making sweets from purple sweet potatoes in order to develop their community. Later, they created purple sweet potato tarts, which eventually became famous Okinawan sweets. Among other confectioners of purple sweet potatoes, we are the first company that made sweets from purple sweet potatoes.

Home of purple sweet potatoes
A purple sweet potato is a kind of yam and beautiful purple inside. It came from a region around Peru in South America. It was originally grown at a barren land with little rain in Peru. Christopher Columbus wrote about this yam in his journal after he reached the American Continent for the first time. It tells how long its history is. It is said that in the early 17th century Mr. Noguni, a Japanese general director dispatched to China, brought a young plant of yam from Fujian province to Okinawa. Since then, it has spread all over the country through the Satsuma province, current Kagoshima Prefecture.

About purple sweet potatoes
100 g of purple sweet potato contains 40-50 mg of calcium and 300-420 mg of potassium. It is a quasi-perfect healthy food rich in dietary fiber and vitamins. Recently, it has also been found to contain natural polyphenol, and been in the spotlight as a healthy food.

Purple sweet potatoes used in Okashigoten
We use three kinds of purple sweet potatoes including Bise, grown in the Bise district, Okinawa. We have been trying our best to invent more delicious sweets by making full use of the potato’s benefits through a succession of research.

We pour our energies into growing the best quality purple sweet potatoes.

Purple sweet potato fields in Yomitan village

There are many beneficial natural ingredients in Okinawa such as purple sweet potatoes and brown sugar. We have made, and will continue to make our healthy sweets because we would like you to enjoy good quality tasty sweets made from healthy natural ingredients.

Nyuka Beniimo
(Bun stuffed with purple sweet potato paste)

Getto Karukan
(Steamed bun)

Benizutumi, Benizukiyo
(Japanese style baked cake)

Kokuto Baumkuchen
(Brown sugar sponge cake)

Enjoy smooth purple sweet paste and soft cake.

Getto Karukan is a steamed bun made with “Getto” or Okinawan traditional herb.
Enjoy the Okinawan flavor and color.

“Benizutumi or “red wrap” is sweet potato paste wrapped with a purple sweet potato layer.
“Benizukiyo” or “red moon-lit night” is a beautiful cake that looks like a full moon, and black sesame seeds on the top accentuate the taste.

This sweet is flavored with pure brown sugar produced in Miyakojima island, Okinawa,
which contains rich iron, minerals, and calcium. The brown sugar is so valuable that only twenty tons a year is produced.

“Okinawa” is a main theme for our company, our products, and our stores and restaurants.
All ingredients for our sweets are from Okinawa. The building architecture of our shops is Okinawan traditional style and the building supplies also come from Okinawa.
Our Okinawan style stores and restaurants are now even introduced as new sightseeing spots in Okinawa.
Sightseeing information of Okinawa

The entrance roof of Yomitan head office is modeled after “Hanagasa” or a flower hat used to express women’s delicate emotions in a traditional Okinawan dance.

The entrance of Onna branch was designed based on the main building of Okinawa’s Shuri Castle; unique features are an S-shaped entrance roof called “Karahafu”, a dragon-head ornament, and bright colors like vermilion.


Purple Sweet Potato Tart line We make up to about 80,000 tarts in Yomitan head store and Onna branch.	Our products were all born from our passion to give many people a chance to eat fresh and piping hot sweets. All staff at Okashigoten still keep it in our mind, and every day manufacture sweets with great care. Enjoy our sweets.
	Steaming line Rice flour, sugar and yams are steamed here to make “Karukan”. The line is designed to hygienically and efficiently manufacture the products.	Baking line A lot of puffed and lustrous sweets are baked in a special oven.


Beautiful Okinawan wrapping paper feasts your eyes. Several Okinawa 's traditional patterns are available, such as “classic patterns in Bin-gata dyeing” and “Kasuri-gara dyeing”. Okinawan natural colors are also used in the wrapping papers. The colors have unique names in the Okinawa dialect.		Okinawan natural colors in a classic pattern make gorgeous wrapping paper. It's appropriate for a gift. Wrapping paper of Kasuri-gata in Okinawa’s unique natural colors.

翻訳協力／
監修：Mari Kato [Western Town College通訳翻訳コース]
翻訳：Tomoyo Mitsuoka, Mariko Fukuda, Sayaka Amiya, Kyoko Kobayashi, Noriko Sano, Ryoko Ikumi