Ichigo Daifuku (Japanese confection made from a strawberry and rice cake) (いちご大福)
Ichigo daifuku is a kind of Japanese confection consisting of a strawberry inside 'daifuku', which is a rice cake stuffed with sweet bean paste. Some regions use the regular sweet bean paste found in most Japanese sweets, and others use white sweet bean paste. There are various other types of ichigo daifuku, including ones with only a strawberry and ones with whipped cream and a strawberry.
Since they are made using strawberries, a perishable ingredient, they are often treated as limited-time products available from winter through spring.
History
According to Tora-ya in Tsu City (see below), ichigo daifuku are a new Japanese confection first made around 1985. Many confectioneries claim to have invented ichigo daifuku so the exact origins are unknown. so the exact origins are unknown.
These shops are dotted all over the country and include Osumi Tama-ya in Sumiyoshi-cho, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo that sells 'Ichigo Mame-daifuku' (a kind of ichigo daifuku where the rice cake contains beans); Kaneuchi-ya in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture; Tora-ya Honke in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture; Kinei-do in Iga City, Mie Prefecture; Matsuda Tokiwa-do in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture; and Kangetsu-do in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture.
The holder of the patent for the ichigo daifuku manufacturing process is 'Osumi Tama-ya Shop.'
Tora-ya Honke in Tsu City, which advertises itself as the inventor of ichigo daifuku, claims 'it did not apply for a patent because it was afraid its manufacturing method could leak out.'