NO OHAGI

NO OHAGI (の・はぎ) is a tiny Daikanyama shop that reworks a very old-fashioned Japanese sweet — ohagi, rice pounded into a soft ball and coated in sweetened bean paste — into something entirely gluten-free and plant-based, without it tasting like a substitute.

Every ohagi here skips wheat, refined white sugar, dairy, egg and food additives; soy milk stands in wherever dairy normally would. The lineup runs from classic tsubu-an and koshi-an (chunky and smooth red bean, respectively) to nuttier options like kinako (roasted soybean flour) and goma (black sesame), plus a rotating seasonal flavor — a walnut-and-sesame "ame no hagi" that only shows up on rainy days. Alongside the ohagi, the shop makes kuzumochi shakes, a soy-milk drink built around chewy kuzu-starch mochi pieces that shift texture as you sip, and in summer a shaved ice with Uji matcha. Individual pieces run in the ¥300–380 range, so two or three make an easy tasting.

The shop itself is barely bigger than its ingredient list: three counter stools tucked into a bright, plant-filled storefront about a four-minute walk from Daikanyama Station, on a narrow frontage that keeps the space feeling intimate. It leans takeout-first — most people pick up a small two-piece box and keep walking — but the counter seats are there if you want to eat in.

A practical note: card, e-money and QR payments are all accepted, so this isn't a cash-only stop, and the shop is closed on Tuesdays. Everything is baked around a genuinely gluten-free, dairy-free kitchen rather than a wheat bakery with a couple of substitutions, which is worth knowing if you're avoiding gluten strictly rather than by preference.