Do you live in Vancouver?
Are you planning to visit Vancouver?
If yes, please visit our favourite little local sweets shop/café; Usagi Sweets!
Our local pickup is also available at Usagi Sweets for all customers in or around the city of Vancouver BC at a free of charge for all online orders.
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We are very excited to be teamed up with our good friends at Usagi Sweets.
Opened in December 2018, Usagi Sweets is a Japanese inspired sweets shop and café on Vancouver’s west side.
It’s begun as a true passion project of our good friend, Moeno, who is a daughter of Miju and Hiroshi Kawai, and a sister of Mitsumi. The Kawai family has many and diverse talents and hospitality from their successful restaurant businesses in town.
Moeno’s inspiration comes from her fond memories of going to confections stores called Wagashiyas in Japan as a child. Usagi carries small treats like “mochi mochi”; chewy, sweet goodies made with glutinous rice in various flavours, such as goma (sesame), cream-cheese, brownie, and nuts-and-cranberry, matcha brownies and all sorts of little bite-size cookies, such as hojicha (roasted green tea), matcha-espresso, matcha-milk. Several of the items are vegan, while drinks include Japanese tea and other herbal tea from Cultivate Tea. Usagi also offers a daily onigiri lunch set. A healthy and comforting combination of two onigiri (rice balls), two kinds of vegetables and a soy sauce-flavoured boiled egg.
Usagi means rabbit in Japanese, and the shop’s logo features a line drawing of a bunny inside a full moon.
“In Japanese lore, there’s a rabbit in the moon making mochi, rather than a man in the moon”, says Moeno. “I can actually see the rabbit’s ears and hind feet when I look up at a full moon on a bright night.”
The entire space is made cosy with her hand-made, crocheted bases for the table and chair stands. Moeno’s father did most of the woodwork in the 400-square-foot interior, and the wall shelving units and wooden table tops were beautifully designed and built with cherry wood by Vancouver’s furniture designer Jay Miron.
The retail shelves feature colourful coasters, tablecloths, and many other accessories handcrafted by Miju, Moeno’s mother. Now you can also find a curated selection of ITSUMO goods available for sale from ceramics, textiles, stationery, and many more.
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A local pickup option can be selected at check out on our website. We will notify the earliest available pickup day immediately after confirmation on your order.
