Wagashi + Kohakuto. Studio

Food and craft can offer meaningful ways to experience and share culture, especially when traditions are carried into new places and communities.

For wagashi artist Toshiko Sugii Steffes, that connection is expressed through small, carefully crafted sweets.

Through Wagashi + Kohakuto. Studio, Toshiko creates Japanese confectionery, leads workshops and demonstrations, and introduces people to the seasons and cultural traditions behind wagashi. Using ingredients available in the United States, she combines traditional techniques with her own approach to color, form, and presentation. Tea is also an important part of the experience she creates, with her wagashi paired alongside teas from Sugimoto Tea.

When we spoke with Toshiko, we were especially interested in how she sees wagashi as a way to experience the changing seasons, nature, and Japanese culture through all five senses.

For this Community Stories feature, we wanted to share more about what first drew her to this craft and what she hopes to pass along through her work.

Falling in Love with Wagashi

Toshiko’s interest in wagashi began with a single sweet.

At a tea ceremony, she encountered a pink cherry blossom nerikiri and was immediately captivated by its beauty. But as she learned more about wagashi, she discovered that what interested her went far beyond its appearance or flavor.

“I was deeply captivated by Wagashi as an ‘art of the five senses,’” Toshiko shared.

For her, wagashi can express the changing seasons as well as ideas from literature, history, and Japanese aesthetics. Even the way a sweet is placed on a plate and interacts with light and shadow can become part of the experience.

Her interest deepened when she discovered Japan’s traditional seasonal calendar, including the 24 Solar Terms and 72 Micro-seasons. These calendars divide the year according to changes in nature, paying attention to details such as shifts in weather, plants, and animal life.

Toshiko was moved by the way generations of wagashi artisans have observed these subtle seasonal changes and expressed them within a small confection.

It inspired her to learn the craft herself and find a way to carry those traditions into the present.

Sharing Wagashi in America

Toshiko began her journey with a desire to introduce the beauty and depth of wagashi to more people, particularly those outside Japan.

Starting from scratch, she gradually developed her work through the people and opportunities she encountered along the way. Creating wagashi in the United States also meant learning how to work with ingredients available locally while continuing to respect the techniques and ideas behind the tradition.

Today, Toshiko creates custom wagashi for private events, corporate clients, and tea gatherings, while also leading workshops and demonstrations that give people an opportunity to experience the craft themselves.

Through these settings, she hopes to take wagashi out of the display case and make its culture a hands-on experience.

A Love Letter Through Wagashi

When we asked Toshiko how she would describe her philosophy, she gave us a simple answer.

“If I could sum it up in one word, making Wagashi is a ‘love letter.’”

For Toshiko, every wagashi carries something that has been passed down through generations.

She describes tradition as a precious baton received from the artisans who came before her. Through her own work, she hopes to pass that knowledge forward and introduce it to people who may be encountering wagashi for the first time.

Wagashi can reflect many aspects of Japanese life, from seasonal customs and celebrations to everyday habits and important milestones. Even a single small sweet can carry references to a particular flower, landscape, season, or cultural tradition.

“Imagining the smiles on people's faces as they take a bite, nothing brings me greater happiness than being able to deliver that essence of Japan,” Toshiko shared.

Capturing the Seasons in Small Details

That philosophy can be seen in the details of Toshiko’s work.

She views craftsmanship as a process that extends beyond the technical shaping of a sweet. Color, form, texture, light, and shadow all help communicate the story and season behind each piece.

“Craftsmanship is not simply about shaping an object; it is the process of breathing life and a story into the sweet.”

A slight change in a color gradient or the placement of a small detail can suggest something found in nature. Together, these elements allow a palm-sized sweet to express a much larger seasonal scene or idea.

Through wagashi, those moments can be brought to the table and experienced through sight, touch, taste, aroma, and the setting in which the sweet is enjoyed.

Tradition and Innovation

Two styles of wagashi especially represent Toshiko’s approach: nerikiri and kohakuto.

Nerikiri are traditional fresh wagashi made with sweetened bean paste and glutinous rice flour that can be shaped and colored to express seasonal motifs. Their detailed forms give Toshiko a way to capture flowers, plants, and other elements of nature through traditional techniques.

Kohakuto offers a different kind of expression.

Made with agar, these translucent sweets catch and reflect light, creating a crystal-like appearance. Toshiko uses contemporary colors and mineral-like forms to give the traditional confection a distinctive visual character.

For her, kohakuto is one of the clearest expressions of a philosophy she describes as “Tradition and Innovation.”

Tea and Wagashi

Tea is also an important part of how Toshiko thinks about wagashi.

“To me, tea is the ‘ultimate partner’ that brings out the maximum potential of Wagashi.”

She sees the relationship between the two as something that works in both directions. Wagashi can bring forward the savory umami and aroma of tea, while tea can soften and balance the sweetness and lingering flavors of the confection.

For Toshiko, this harmony is one of the pleasures of Japanese tea culture.

At the same time, she does not believe enjoying tea and wagashi needs to be complicated or formal.

A piece of kohakuto or a bite of mochi enjoyed with tea in one’s favorite vessel can create its own meaningful moment.

Her own connection with Sugimoto Tea began after seeing our matcha featured on a cooking channel on YouTube. She later had the opportunity to try our matcha and sencha at the Chicago Tea Festival.

Toshiko remembers being impressed by the flavor and vibrant color of the teas, as well as the care behind how they were produced. She felt they complemented the kind of wagashi and tea experience she hoped to share with people in the United States.

Creating Experiences Through Wagashi

Some of the most meaningful moments in Toshiko’s work happen when people have the opportunity to make wagashi themselves.

Through workshops and demonstrations in cities across the United States, she introduces participants to the techniques behind the sweets along with the seasons and cultural ideas that inspire them.

One experience in particular has stayed with her.

During a workshop, a local guest attended to celebrate her daughter’s birthday. After making wagashi and enjoying it with tea, she told Toshiko that focusing on the process had made her feel closer to nature and had created a surprisingly mindful birthday experience.

For Toshiko, the moment showed how the ideas behind wagashi could resonate even with someone encountering the tradition in a very different cultural setting.

“Knowing that the Japanese aesthetic and tea culture reached her heart across the language barrier is a moment that remains deeply etched in my memory.”

A Moment to Appreciate the Seasons

At the end of our conversation, Toshiko returned to something simple, a piece of wagashi and a cup of tea.

“Just having a cup of delicious tea and a piece of Wagashi creates a rich, mindful moment to cherish the seasons within our busy daily lives.”

Throughout our conversation, we could see the thought and care Toshiko brings to her work, from the wagashi she creates to the experiences she creates for others. Her attention to detail and the meaning she places in each part of her work reflect the thoughtful approach she has developed over the years.

We appreciate seeing how Toshiko has created her own way of sharing wagashi here in the United States and how people from different backgrounds have connected with her work.

We would like to sincerely thank Toshiko for sharing her story with us.

Visit Wagashi + Kohakuto. Studio

Wagashi + Kohakuto. Studio
Toshiko Sugii Steffes
Japanese Wagashi Artist

https://kohakuto.com/