Hamajiman, located along Isezaki-cho’s shopping strip, is a Western sweets shop founded more than a century ago. Hamajiman’s origins date back to 1913 when it launched as a Japanese sweets shop called Ichimura Confectionery. In those days, it was still rare to have a Japanese shop like this, and the owners thought to create sweets as omiyage (souvenirs) that would be the pride of Yokohama. They thus conceived of a treat filled with koshian (sweet bean paste) and chestnuts–the idea was to sell a Hamajiman saichu, or “Yokohama-pride bean jam cake”. Rave reviews piled up and, as the name suggests, it became a point of pride in Yokohama for many people, a beloved treat that represented the city. Turmoil ensued following WWII but eventually the shop transitioned away from Japanese sweets. Yokohama’s port had again opened to the West and people were responsive to new things–a new suppleness of perspective had arrived. In this changed context, the shop discovered Boston cream pies, and while they preserved the name of the treat they had been making from the beginning in the shop’s name–Hamajiman–they were reborn as a Western sweets shop.
There was also an interesting episode in its history that symbolizes this port city. It was right after WWII ended, when pleasure travel was shifting from ships to airplanes on a massive scale. It seems that there were a handful of first-rate chefs who had been showcasing their skills on boats that traveled between various countries and Yokohama, but now they were searching for new work and left the waters for land. There weren’t many Western sweets shops at the time and, if you think about it, there was probably nobody that understood better how to satisfy the tastes of travelers from overseas with delicious food. In 1957, Hamajiman hired a chef who had been employed on a ship traveling between Yokohama and America–he was the one that helped kick off sales of Boston cream pies. These pies are actually cakes that were originally launched in Boston in 1855 at the Omni Parker House Hotel. Countless celebrities have visited this famous, hallowed hotel, including John F. Kennedy, who proposed to Jacqueline in its restaurant.
Hamajiman’s chief patissier is one Eiji Kudo, a veteran of the kitchen who has been making Western-style treats for over fifty years! He was taught the original recipe and techniques back in the day, and when he first had a bite of the cake, he thought, “How in the world did anybody make something so delicious?!” He has honored the trademark flavor over the years, but has tweaked things to better suit the times, such as reducing sugar, thus bringing to us a Boston cream pie for the present.
Third-generation family owner Satoshi Ichimura remarks, “As a major port that opened to the West and as a cornerstone of Japan’s modernization efforts, Yokohama developed through a mix of many different ethnicities and cultures, and thus has quite an open-minded ethos. I look forward to how this strip of Isezaki will continue to evolve from that.” Ichimura has an infectiously upbeat personality that will raise your spirits. The sweets that line the display case in the store embody his character. You’ll understand when you visit. There’s a reason why this place has been loved by locals for so long. I leave buoyed by the experience, and stroll Isezaki reminded of Yokohama’s modernization period–it’s then that I see the scene in a different flavor, to speak.