【 Historyのブログ記事一覧 】
Meet the family
Hi JahanaKippan fans, customers and Okinawa sweet lovers,
So its been quite a while since we updated our English language site blog for which we apologise and can only offer the excuse that we have been so busy that literally months have flown by! A weak excuse we know but lots and lots of exciting things have been happening recently so lets get started with the update. 

Momoto, a local Okinawan scene magazine recently visited us and put together a fantastic photo story on our shop, sweets and family. JahanaKippanten has been run proudly by the Jahana/Gakiya family for at least 6 generations (probably more but records are lost before that) with a family line that possibly runs right back to the Kume 36 families who were a community of Chinese artists and craftmen who migrated to Okinawa in the late 14th century. Today 3 generations work in the shop together to continue the tradition following our (Hisano and James) return to Okinawa last year. We were delighted with the photo the Momoto team took and Kantetsu Jahana, current master of the shop and Hisano's father, us and our girls so here it is below. We almost got our youngest to pose well for it!!

Jahana family

Best wishes for 2010

A very Happy New Year to you all

In 2010 we plan to release some brand new products alongside our traditional sweets.
We are very excited about the possibilities and are trying out a range of new combinations of taste and texture to delight the tastebuds!

Although its a little chilly at night we have been enjoying some sunny days here in Okinawa during January and are feeling a lot of sympathy for our friends and customers in the UK who have been experiencing a lot more snow this year than normal. As we come up to February and Valentine's Day we are looking forward to bringing our new chocolate tougatsuke creations to market and hopefully getting some great feedback from satisfied customers.

For our international customers we are now taking orders for international shipping and you can pay online using a Paypal account or just a credit or debit card if you don't have a Paypal account. 

Did you know that our sweets have a long and rather distinguished history here in Okinawa?

Tougatsuke and Kippan were among 16 original sweets, fruits and delicacies served at the old court of the Ryukyu kings when Okinawa was an independent trading nation with close ties to China and Japan. You can see the sweets in the picture below. So when you eat our sweets you are tasting just a little of the history and heritage of Okinawa!

kippanTougan.jpg

(資料参照:琉球料理研究家 ‐ 田淵光様)

 

Best regards for 2010 from the Jahanakippanten team.