Today, I am happy to announce that Simply Oishii Japanese Cooking Class has officially changed it's name to Simply Oishii Wagashi School. My cooking class will be focusing on Japanese Sweets and I have renewed my website accordingly.

Ever since the pandemic, I have been getting many requests for online classes for Japanese sweets, and this has taken up most of my time which made it difficult for me to do savory classes. 

So, I have finally decided to concentrate on wagashi (Japanese Sweets) and to enhance my skills for that to enable me to pass on what I have learned to other people.

My School Logo has changed and my new logo has dango under the sakura tree which is called "Ohanami Dango" a three color dango that I make in my online mochi class. This dango represents how Japanese sweets are strongly connected with the Japanese seasons. 

I hope to not only teach the skills for making wagashi but also the spirit of making wagashi and the traditions and history behind it.

So, it is a new challenge for me after almost 7 years of running my cooking class. I am looking forward to learning more and teaching more!

Last week my online Mochi making class went live on Amazon Explore. Amazon Explore is a new service which allows customers to book live virtual experiences led by local experts. So you can tour around a foreign city with a tour guide from your home.

The difference between an YouTube travel channel or any other online experience is that this is a one on one and you can ask the tour guide to go to a souvenir shop and buy something and have it delivered to your home.

My cooking class does not have a shopping function at the moment, but in the future I hope to have a class where you can  shop for wagashi tools.

This service is still on Beta and available in the US by invitation. I am looking forward to how this is going to develop in the future.

Amazon Explore Beta >>> Learn More  

 This month, I took JSA's latest Instructor Course - Higashi & Han-namagashi Certified Instructor Course（干菓子＆半生菓子認定講師講座）. Higashi is dry confections and Han-namagashi is half dried confections often served during the tea ceremony. 

The confections are made with sugar, rice flour and water. The water content is minimal to last longer.  It is shaped and colored into a seasonal motif. Compared with Jo-namagashi (High grade fresh confections), it may not stand out, but the simple beauty and the subtle sweetness is just as appealing.

In this 8 hour course you will learn how to make six kinds of confections, 17 designs and learn 40 kinds of techniques.

Since you need special tools and unique ingredients, it may be difficult to hold one day online classes for this art, but once JSA comes out with an English textbook, I will be holding this diploma course in person and online. Tools and ingredients will be included in the kit.

Please see JSA's website for the detail of this course.

If you are interested to take this course, please follow my Facebook or Instagram.