AMEZAIKU
'Amezaiku' means candy art and it is the traditional Japanese art of sculpting hot candy into lollipops of various shapes and animals. Amezaiku dates back to the Edo era in the 17th century.
Nowadays there are not so many candy artists in Japan, and even many locals in Japan have never seen this dying art. By some estimates, there are less than 50 active professional candy artists in Japan.
We first learned this art through Ishiwari-sensei who is generally considered the Amezaiku master in Japan. We have also received invaluable advice and training from Okanishi-sensei of Kyoto, Japan and Candy Miyuki of Florida, USA.
The hot candy used in Amezaiku is very difficult to work with, as a very high temperature must be used to melt the candy into a pliable melted sugar condition. At just the right temperature, the hot candy becomes dough-like where it can be stretched and massaged by hand.
The candy is so hot that burning one's fingers is a right of passage for beginning artists, and even trained artists will burn their fingers occasionally.
The hot candy is placed on a lollipop stick and using small scissors and fingers, is pinched, pulled, cut, and scultped into a shape or animal.
There is a lot of pressure to work fast to sculpt the candy into its shape before it cools and hardens.
Our candy is homemade and we use food coloring to color and decorate our creations. That way, everyone can enjoy our candy art by looking at it…..and eating it too!
Nowadays there are not so many candy artists in Japan, and even many locals in Japan have never seen this dying art. By some estimates, there are less than 50 active professional candy artists in Japan.
We first learned this art through Ishiwari-sensei who is generally considered the Amezaiku master in Japan. We have also received invaluable advice and training from Okanishi-sensei of Kyoto, Japan and Candy Miyuki of Florida, USA.
The hot candy used in Amezaiku is very difficult to work with, as a very high temperature must be used to melt the candy into a pliable melted sugar condition. At just the right temperature, the hot candy becomes dough-like where it can be stretched and massaged by hand.
The candy is so hot that burning one's fingers is a right of passage for beginning artists, and even trained artists will burn their fingers occasionally.
The hot candy is placed on a lollipop stick and using small scissors and fingers, is pinched, pulled, cut, and scultped into a shape or animal.
There is a lot of pressure to work fast to sculpt the candy into its shape before it cools and hardens.
Our candy is homemade and we use food coloring to color and decorate our creations. That way, everyone can enjoy our candy art by looking at it…..and eating it too!
