Shop Log: Don't Put That In The Bath

Shop's Log.  Halifax NS.  May 29th, 15:04.  Weather: Sunny, 18℃.

After making a purchase, the lady paused at the counter.  Almost as if it were an after-thought, she opened her bag and produced this elegant box with subdued colours.

"Uhm, I wonder if you could help me...." she queried.

"Sure!" I said.

"Could you tell me what these are?" she asked as she opened the box.  "A friend from Japan gave this to us and we are not sure what they are."

Inside were exquisitely sculpted tiny objects in assorted shapes and colours. 

"My daughter thinks they are soap and wants to put them in the bath," she added helpfully.

Well, that would've turned out to be a sweet bath!  The items in question were actually higashi (干菓子)--a special type of dry Japanese confection that are often served in the Japanese tea ceremony.  Usually, they are made with a special sugar called wasambon (和三盆)--sugar made from a very thin variety of sugarcane called taketou (竹糖) that is grown only in Shikoku Island.  

Here is an image of what a box of higashi would look like.  

I made sure she didn't drop the sweet little things in the bathtub...and we all had a good laugh.  The bonus was she graciously offered some of the candy to me...so I took two pieces.  

Tea time was a bit more special than usual.  Thank you! :-)