How I discovered Miyazaki’s Ume Monja
More than twenty years ago, before I moved to Miyakonojo, I was living at my family home in Soo, Kagoshima, after returning from Oita and working rotating factory shifts. One morning after a night shift, when I was twenty-one, my uncle from Miyazaki City brought a manju souvenir called Ume Monja.
The box showed what I remember as an Edo-period farmer or low-ranking rural samurai sitting and eating a manju. It said the sweet came from Sadowara, just north of Miyazaki City. The pastry looked old-fashioned and rather plain, almost unpromising. Yet one bite revealed a mysterious flavor that became better the more I chewed. At that moment I understood the name, which sounds like a local expression meaning “something delicious.”
How it differed from other manju
That growing flavor was its defining quality. My memory of the ingredients is imperfect, but the filling seemed almond flavored and the exterior resembled a baked tart crust. Its humble appearance made the discovery more dramatic. The baked shell also gave off the inviting aroma of tart pastry.
My uncle brought a box of roughly twenty-five pieces that cost around 980 yen including tax at the time—an astonishing amount and quality for under 1,000 yen. It was delicious enough to eat repeatedly, and both of us were surprised.
Is Ume Monja still sold?
After moving from Soo to Miyakonojo, I could not find it in Miyakonojo, Soo, Kanoya, Shibushi, or Kushima. About three years after my uncle first brought it, I saw it once in a souvenir shop inside Miyazaki Station, but never again. Confectionery shops and mall souvenir sections yielded nothing, and internet searches produced almost no clue. Advertisements using the phrase “Ume Monja festival” referred to something unrelated.
The sweet has therefore become almost legendary in my memory. Work makes it difficult to investigate, but with enough time I would visit Miyazaki and Sadowara, ask confectioners and department stores, and check places such as Yamakataya, MRT micc, and Miyako City. Because I genuinely ate it, I believe evidence must exist. Any investigation should respect the privacy of people and businesses involved. Perhaps it became a small, locally guarded product or disappeared under another name. Finding the real Ume Monja again would be an extraordinary pleasure.
Ume Monja Product Info, Expiration Date, Manufacturer
| Product Name | Ume Monja |
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