In-depth analysis! The “depth” of Sota Fujii’s snack selection

From long-established Japanese sweets to farmers’ homemade tarts…

There has been a lot of talk about what kind of snacks Mr. Sota Fujii chooses to eat, not to mention whether he wins or loses the game. The snacks that Mr. Fujii chooses are so popular that they are sold out immediately.

I don’t know much about shogi either, but I always check what Mr. Fujii has eaten.

I don’t know much about shogi, but I check what Mr. Fujii has eaten,” says sweets journalist Rio Hiraiwa. Nowadays, people in the confectionery industry also pay attention to Fujii’s selection.

The professionals have snacks at 10:00 and 3:00 during the game. The professionals pay for the meals they order, but the snacks are provided by the organizers. Sometimes the professionals order their own snacks, and sometimes they choose from among several menus.

What I pay attention to is the choice of restaurants. Some of the stores are long-established, others have just been opened by motivated craftsmen. There is a lot of variety. Perhaps it is because they want people to know about local sweets, but in every game, they seem to have chosen stores that are near the game site. I’m curious to know how they choose the shops and what the system is.

For example, on the first day of the second round of the Ryu-o Tournament held on October 22, Mr. Fujii chose a snack at 10:00 a.m. that was popular for its cute bear shape. Kuma-makau And. An and salted kinako It was made two days after the opening. It was made by a store called “Omuro Wagashi Itodatsu,” which has been open for two years. The afternoon snack was an apple pie from Kyoto Hotel Okura. This is a long-selling product that is popular among the locals. And the morning snack on the second day was Japanese sweets from a long-established shop called Kameya Shigehisa, founded in 1802. Indeed, there was a rich variety.

In addition to the above, there was also an event held in Fukushima Prefecture on the first day of the third game of the Ryuoh Tournament. The snack at 10:00 a.m. was ‘Jannan.In addition to the above, the snack at 10:00 a.m. on the first day of the third game of the Ryu-o Tournament held in Fukushima Prefecture was “Jangara,” a local specialty of Iwaki City. The afternoon snackwas a tart and doughnut made from feijoa, a fruit native to Uruguay and southern Brazil.

From sweets unique to the region to sweets using rare fruits, Fujii’s selections had a wide range. When he chose a chick-shaped sweet as his afternoon snack on the first day of the first game of the Oui-chi Tournament Piyorin. as an afternoon snack on the first day of the first game of the Oi tournament, the store’s server was down and it became the talk of the town. And then there was the bear. Many people think that Mr. Fujii likes cute snacks, but it’s not that simple. Fujii’s selections seem to be much deeper than that.

Feijoa is a sweet and sour fruit similar to tropical fruit, but I don’t think Mr. Fujii had ever tasted it before. Jangara is also a famous confectionery known only to those in the know, so maybe it was his first time to try it. He must have been very curious to try something he didn’t know what it would taste like at the time of an important game. A person who has accomplished a great deal may be eager to try new things. You have a wide capacity, or rather, a wide range.

Mr. Fujii says that he likes to study Shogi using a computer and also likes to solve Tsume-Shogi, a traditional Japanese chess game. He seems to have a strong spirit of challenge in all things.

Incidentally, this feijoa tart was made by the wife of the only farmer in Fukushima Prefecture who grows feijoa. Since Mr. Fujii chose it, the orders have been pouring in, but she says she can only make 60 a day by hand.

Sometimes I lose 2 to 3 kg in one game.

By the way, I heard that this snack is indispensable for professionals.

I heard that people who use their brains need more calories.

According to one theory, a professional chess player consumes 6,000 Kcal a day. It’s like being an athlete.

According to one theory, a professional chess player consumes 6,000 Kcal a day. “There is a tendency to think that sweets are not good for you, but the brain is nourished by sugar. Starchy foods such as rice and noodles take time to be broken down and converted into energy, but sugar activates the brain immediately. I think it’s great to eat something sweet when you’re tired or want a change of pace.”

Chess players are not to be outdone by chess players when it comes to using their brains. When they play a game, they sometimes lose two to three kilograms of weight in one game.

I heard that some professionals look forward to having snacks. I guess that’s why they are so exhausted.

Will he be the savior of the snack industry?

Mr. Fujii won the Ryuoh tournament and became the fourth crowned champion. I wonder how much stronger he will become. The more games he plays, the more snacks he can eat.

In the past, sweets were mostly used for weddings, funerals, and mid-year and year-end gifts, but these days such customs are disappearing and orders are decreasing. On top of that, there are many places that are suffering from the lack of use of train stations and airports due to the new Covid-19. Since we are in such a situation, I think it would be a great thing for the confectionery industry if the fact that Mr. Fujii chose this product would be a chance for people to become interested in ordering it and learn about delicious local confectionery.

If you had the chance, what would you like Ms. Fujii to try?

It is important to carry on the old traditions, but there are more and more wagashi stores that are taking on new challenges in order to make proposals that fit the current times. They are called neo-wagashi because they use traditional techniques, but they have never been made before, and they are becoming a hot topic.

One of them is an agar confectionery called “Noshibai Honpo Sato-ya. Sora Nomukou agar candy. The deep blue color with glittering bubbles looks like space. The other is a Japanese confectionery called “Tomoei” from MIO Japanese confectionery. It is a heptagonal polyhedron, a shape that has never been seen before in Japanese confectionery, and the deep pink color made from local berries looks like a flower. The craftsmen are working hard.

If Mr. Fujii’s choice of these sweets as a snack helps us win, it will be a great honor for our creators.

Rio Hiraiwa She eats more than 200 kinds of sweets a month, and works as a Sweets Journalist®, providing information on “food,” especially sweets, in magazines, on the web, on the radio, and on TV. In addition to writing, she teaches seminars, hosts events, and provides consulting services for corporate product development. Her publications include “Selected Chocolates Techo” and “Selected Sweets Techo” (both published by Sekai Bunka Sha).