Built in the early Showa period, Takemura has been operating as a teahouse and sweetshop in the Kanda neighborhood since it first opened on January 25, 1930.

“The founder of this place was my father,” says Masaaki Hotta, who is the third owner of the business following his father and older brother. The teahouse has always specialized in oshiruko—grilled mochi in a sweet adzuki bean soup. “My father was a wagashi [Japanese sweets] maker. At the start we served oshiruko and wagashi. However, during the war, sugar was really hard to come by, so at that time we were only open two or three days a week,” Hotta explains.

The menu is a Japanese wagashi delight. In addition to the oshiruko, they serve kuzumochi (triangles of mochi made from kudzu starch), and other traditional favorite...