What do you like in your mochi?

Mochi must be the national dessert of Japan. It is absolutely everywhere. And the varieties are endless too - traditional adzuki (red bean) filling, triangle shapes, large ones, small ones, red ones, blue ones. A newcomer to the party, however, takes the cake for best mochi of the trip. Mochi Cream (in English on their signs but in Japanese on all the maps) was the winner. Slightly less chewy, slightly thinner outer mochi shells give way to flavored pudding insides with a blast of whipped cream. They are given frozen and supposed to be eaten within the first hour once they've warmed up a bit.

As you can see, there are gorgeous little things. And so many varities to choose from! We were able to narrow our selections down to an even dozen. Of those, the apple pie, cafe au lait, and sakura (cherry blossom) were #1, 2, and 3.

Hat tip to Rebecca for the delicious tip!