TOKYO — It’s true. Japanese take food as seriously as they do fashion. Both are expected to have the best ingredients, be pleasing to the eye and in season, and produced by an expert. As consumers, they don’t wince when asked to pay top yen for it.
A quick look around the basement of any department store (a.k.a. “depa chika”) and you’ll see that their obsession for food rivals that of fashion.
Dessert has a special place in the heart of the Japanese. I don’t think there is any other Asian country with as many patisseries and dessert shops as here.
Tokyo has the whole lot of chocolatiers like Jean-Paul Hevin, Henri Le Roux and their very own Sadaharu Aoki. Whenever they feel like it, they can enjoy a Mona Lisa éclair at Fauchon or snap up a box of the famed Ladurée macarons in Ginza.
The reason why they love desserts is because they’re kawaii. That, and of course they taste heavenly as well.
Now those with a sweet tooth can wear the goodies as a badge of honor in the form of desert-themed charms, rings and necklaces.
The main proponent of this trend is the brand Q-pot by designer Tadaaki Wakamatsu. Bearing a resemblance to Willy Wonka himself, he has built a mini empire selling accessories revolving around food.
His long time hits are those that mimic patisserie favorites like macarons, chou a la crème, mini cakes and fruits in whipped crème, now available at the MoMA.
This summer, his collection is inspired by honey and lemon, with translucent rings resembling dripping honey and pendants that look exactly like a slice of lemon dipped in honey.
The popularity of such accessories is also being used as a marketing device. A couple of months ago, Lipton tied up with Belgian chocolatier Pierre Marcolini and gave away cookie and ice-cream cell phone charms, while Doughnut Plant New York City sold doughnut tote bags and gave away doughnut charms to celebrate their fifth anniversary in Japan.