Wakasaimo Looks Like Potato than Real Potato -Wakasaimo Honpo Head Office near Lake Toya-

Wakasaimo (わかさいも) that everybody knows in Hokkaido is a Japanese cake like taro and has been sold since 1930 at Wakasaimo Honpo. As a souvenir of Toyako Onsen (洞爺湖温泉), it has been standard souvenir from old days. An origin is said to be Wakasayaimo (わかさ屋いも) of Wakasaya-Shinise (若狭屋老舗) in Suttu town. Both seems to be same whole families. I thought that Toyako Onsen was a birthplace. It is Lake Toya Head office that I have been regarding as the birthplace for many years.

A building is built on the of Lake Toya, and there is Lake Toya Head Office at a scenic place. There is a hand bath used hot springs of Toyako Onsen at an entrance of the building. There are a souvenir shop, a coffee shop and a restaurant at the building and it is the only store that visitors can eat "Imoten (いもてん)", fried Wakasaimo. However, I purchased the Wakasaimo of the traditional Japanese cake. One pack costed JPY 630. I planned to eat it here, because they allowed me to use the coffee shop freely.

I thought that the Waksaimo was made from a sweet potato with soy sauce. However, I found a shocking manual that potatoes were not used at all. Bean jam made from beans is used to resemble the mashed potatoes, and Kezuri Konbu is used as muscles of the potatoes. The Waksaimo has a slogan that it looked like the potatoes than real potatoes. A texture was same as the potatoes. It might be said that it was just the sweet potato.

Wakasaimo is found on Amazon.

A page of Shikotsu-Toya National Park is this