Aomori Sweet Spot: Hirosaki Apple Pie Guide Map Leads Visitors on Delicious Adventure

A red banner advertising apple pies flutters outside Japanese confectioner Kashitsukasa Mishima, founded in 1905.

Kashitsukasa Mishima has been selling its apple pies alongside traditional confectionery like dorayaki for nearly 50 years.

The filling is house-made jam using only the Kōgyoku variety of apples, also known as a Jonathan. The confection is popular among visitors for its fluffy pastry and gentle sweetness.

The Hirosaki Apple Pie Guide Map is a must for any sweet-toothed visitor to the city.

The Hirosaki City Sightseeing Information Center.

Nomura Izumi holds a copy of the Hirosaki Apple Pie Guide Map.

Angelique is one of Hirosaki’s most sought out purveyors of apple pastries.

Angelique’s Instagram-worthy apple pie features sliced apples and apple jam atop a caramelized pastry base.

Apple pies stacked atop a showcase displaying other mouth-watering treats await hungry customers.

Clockwise from top: Map-related goods on display at the Sightseeing Information Center; the cover of the Hirosaki Apple Pie Recipe Book; and the Hirosaki Tarte Tatin Guide Map.

In her logbook, Nomura faithfully records her impressions of the apple confections she has sampled, including those made outside Hirosaki. Thanks to her extensive research, the Hirosaki Apple Pie Guide Map brims with authoritative information.

The Taishō Roman Tea Room occupies a Western-style building at the Fujita Memorial Garden.

An apple pie from Futamian. The Japanese-style confectioner has been offering its apple pies, which have a mild flavor, for over 50 years.

The Eau Clair Tea Lounge’s apple pie features a thickly sliced Fuji apple on a crisp pastry bed.

Five varieties of apple pies available for takeout at the Taishō Roman Tea Room.

Tamura Farm products, made from the farm’s own Kōgyoku apples, are available throughout the city. The appetizing fruit is visible through the lattice-top crust.

Kasai Seika’s Ringo Kaidō dessert consists of a layer of apples atop a spongy castella. Popular with tourists for over 30 years, it is sold at the Sakura House shop at the Sightseeing Information Center and other locations.

This former residence for foreign teachers at the Tō-ō Gijuku school, an education institution originally set up and operated by the Hirosaki domain.

An apple pie served at Salon de café Ange containing nuts and raisins.