After working as a seafood wholesaler, he joined the store four years ago and became manager this year. He says, “I have changed from real fish to confectionery fish, but I am even more particular about freshness than I was before.”  The monthly changing fish-shaped pancakes,” are an original menu item that cannot be found anywhere else. Tomoe-an is unusual enough that it is in an Itchoyaki restaurant, but what makes it even rarer is its Tsukihae Taiyaki, a special type of fish-shaped pancake that changes every month. The original menu item, which cannot be found anywhere else, has a significant presence.  The first item on the menu was the Kizami Taiyaki which was made by a local chef who had been working on it since the beginning of the 20th century. The first item we created was the Kizami Ginger Taiyaki which is made by mixing chopped candied ginger with red bean paste. The refreshing spiciness of the ginger and the anko (red bean paste) is a perfect match.  “When it was first completed, it was intended to be a regular item on the menu, but later, ideas for other varieties came up, so it became a monthly item,” he said. Although the monthly changing item has become synonymous with the store, Abe says that the hurdle for coming up with new menu items has been getting higher every year.  “In the beginning, the idea was to use the same ingredients in other sweets, but now we are conscious of ingredients that have strong characteristics other than sweetness. It was quite difficult to come up with a new menu item within the constraints of mixing with anko (red bean paste), using Japanese ingredients that are not being offered at other stores. It is getting harder and harder to come up with a new menu item because it has to surpass the taste of our existing monthly taiyaki. A good example of how ingredients with characteristics other than sweetness are successfully paired with red bean paste is the Aojitsu Sansho Taiyaki.  It was born out of the representative’s desire to create a product using tsukudani, the fruit of the sansho pepper, which is a favorite of his. However, the pepper, when simmered in shoyu, did not go well with the bean paste, so he decided to pickle it in salt to make the product.