Konpeitou

These colorful star shaped small candies is called Konpeitou(kon-pay-toe). Konpeitou is usually 5 to 10 millimeters in diameter. Each piece is covered with tiny bulges, which occur in the cooking process. A word of konpeitou came from "confeito" in Portuguese. It's now one of the Japanese traditional and popular sugar candies which everyone knows. But as you see this word came from "confeito" in Portuguese, it was first brought to Japan by Portuguese merchants while Japan secluded herself from any other countries but Portugal and the Netherlands. Konpeitou was very rare sweets at first since we didn't know the technique to refine sugar and eventually konpeitou was a very precious sweet in those days and so they were often brought to the Imperial court people and the powerful landlords by Portuguese merchants or some Jesuit missionaries as the gifts before its making process was widely prevailed in the country. In fact the whole process of making tiny konpeitou requires time and delicate techniques. Nowadays there are many kinds of shops that makes konpeitou but there is only one long-standing shop in Kyoto that handmakes all kinds of tiny konpeitou and is a purveyors to the Imperial House of Japan.
Lucky me! because this store locates very close to the university where my daughter goes to in Kyoto. In fact she was home over this weekends to spend time with us. She brought the box of konpeitou especially arranged for Tanabata. Aren't they lovely! Too lovely to eat them.