When you come to Kagawa, if you have the chance to visit Higashikagawa City, don’t miss this venerable shop that has continued since the Edo period and is one of the few still insisting on making wasanbon sugar in-house — Mitani Sugar Manufacturing. People know wasanbon for its delicate, elegant sweetness, but what drew me most this time was its predecessor, shimoshita sugar. Shimoshita is made by pressing and boiling sugarcane until the sugar naturally crystallizes; its color is a deep brownish hue similar to unrefined brown sugar, and it has a rich, full-bodied flavor that never feels cloying. Skilled artisans repeatedly knead it by hand, press out the molasses, and work it on wooden trays called "bon," layer by layer, slowly transforming it into wasanbon that is snow-white and melts on the tongue. In an age that prizes speed and efficiency, Mitani Sugar Manufacturing still keeps to a slow, careful rhythm, and that makes it especially moving. When you let a piece of wasanbon dissolve in your mouth, the first impression is the mellow depth left by the shimoshita, followed by a gentle, unfolding sweetness. This sweetness, carrying two centuries of history, makes you fall in love with it before you know it.