Umegae mochi is a grilled rice cake stamped with a plum-blossom mark, filled with red bean paste. The Dazaifu pilgrimage souvenir, grilled to order at Kasanoya and a row of stalls since 1922.
Where to eat it: 1 restaurant across 1 city.
Umegae mochi traces to the 10th-century cult of Sugawara no Michizane, the scholar god enshrined at Dazaifu Tenmangu. The plum-mark grilled rice cake is the pilgrimage road's signature, with Kasanoya as the dominant operator since 1922. Glutinous and non-glutinous rice flours form the wrapper, with sweet azuki paste inside; the cake is grilled to order on a heavy iron press. Today around eight stalls run umegae mochi on the Dazaifu approach; Kasanoya and Terashita are the most-cited.
Common allergens: None
Tip from the editors. Press hard the first 30 seconds to mark the rice with the plum blossom; ease off after to avoid bursting the paste.
Kasanoya has run umegae mochi on the Dazaifu pilgrimage road since 1922. Grilled-to-order plum-mark rice cakes filled with sweet red bean paste.
Tip: Five minutes from Dazaifu Station. Open daily; no closing day.
Worth the queue: Freshly grilled umegae mochi
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