Tokyo Banana facts for kids
Tokyo Banana is a super popular Japanese treat! It's a soft, banana-shaped sponge cake filled with yummy cream. Think of it like a special souvenir snack from Tokyo, Japan. A company called Grapestone Co. makes and sells these delicious cakes.
You can find Tokyo Bananas in lots of different flavors, and each one comes in its own little plastic wrapper. The very first and most famous flavor is called Tokyo Banana Miitsuketa (見ぃつけたっ). It has a smooth banana custard cream inside, made from real banana puree. After baking, the cakes are steamed to make them extra soft and fluffy!
These tasty treats are made in a factory in Tokorozawa, Saitama. You can buy Tokyo Bananas all over Tokyo and at many big airports in Japan, making them easy to grab as a gift or a snack for your trip.
How Tokyo Banana Started
Tokyo Banana was created by Grapestone Co. The original banana custard flavor, Tokyo Banana Miitsuketa, first came out in 1991. It quickly became super popular! It's now a famous symbol of Tokyo's snacks.
The company wanted to sell these cakes only in Tokyo at first. They even put "Tokyo" in the name to encourage people visiting or living in Tokyo to buy them as a special souvenir.
Long ago, bananas were quite rare and expensive in Japan. This was because Japan's cold weather made it hard to grow them. So, if you wanted a banana, you had to pay a lot! Grapestone Co. decided to use bananas in their dessert. They wanted to offer a soft, fluffy cake that everyone could enjoy, especially since bananas were seen as a special fruit.
Tokyo Banana Flavors
There are many different kinds of Tokyo Banana treats! Here are some of the most popular ones:
- Tokyo Banana Miitsuketa
- This is the classic banana-shaped cake with banana custard inside. It's best to eat it within 7 days, but keeping it in the fridge can make it last a bit longer.
- Tokyo Banana Miitsuketa caramel flavour
- This one has caramel banana custard cream. The sponge cake itself is also caramel-colored and flavored! It came out in 2011 to celebrate 20 years of Tokyo Banana.
- Tokyo Choco Banana
- This treat has banana cream wrapped in chocolate. In the summer, from mid-May to mid-September, it changes to a banana mint flavor called "Summer Choco."
- Tokyo Banana Pie
- This is a yummy pastry made with banana-flavored biscuit dough.
- Fresh Cream Puff
- A cream puff filled with both cream and banana custard.
- Tokyo Banana Raisin Sandwich
- This is a cookie sandwich! It has rum-raisin banana ganache (a creamy filling) between banana-scented cookies.
- Wagashi Tokyo Banana
- This is a traditional Japanese sweet (wagashi) style. It has banana anko (a sweet bean paste) inside a soft outer layer.
- Moist Baumkuchen
- This cake has three layers baked together to make a moist baumkuchen (a type of layered cake).
Past Tokyo Banana Treats
Some Tokyo Banana treats were sold in the past but might not be available anymore:
- Tokyo Banana Kuro Bei
- This was a dark, bitter-sweet cocoa sponge cake filled with lots of banana custard.
- Chocolate Pie
- A chocolate pastry folded into many layers.
- Moist Baumkuchen
- This baumkuchen had two layers: one with chocolate banana and one with muscovado (a type of brown sugar).
- Dorayaki
- A Japanese dessert with two slices of sponge cake and red bean jam in between.
