Ariake Harbour — The Day the Harbour Was Reborn

April 26, 2001. On this day, Yokohama Marine Tower became the site of a confection's triumphant return. The Ariake Harbour — a chestnut cake shaped like a ship. But the story begins far earlier than that. In 1936, a confectioner from Niigata opened a small sweet shop in Tsurumi, Yokohama. In the years that followed the war, his chestnut pastry found a name: 'Roman' — a word that layered the French marron, chestnut, with the Japanese longing for romance and dreams. Then, in 1966, it was renamed 'Harbour,' in honour of the ship's form it wore and the port city of Yokohama it called home. But in 1999, the unthinkable happened. Ariake collapsed under the weight of financial hardship, and that beloved ship-shaped confection vanished from the shelves. 'I want to taste it just once more.' The voices rose from the citizens who had grown up with the Harbour. Former employees, a businessman who had worked in confectionery wholesale, and the people of Yokohama — together they formed the Harbour Revival Executive Committee, and spent more than half a year carefully restoring and refining the original flavour. And so, on April 26, 2001, one of the venues chosen to announce the Harbour's rebirth was here, at Marine Tower. It is said that crowds of eager, long-waiting visitors gathered at the foot of this very tower. Then, in 2009, the packaging was reimagined with artwork by the celebrated illustrator Ryohei Yanagihara — a man who harboured a deep and abiding love for ships and for the port town of Yokohama — and the confection grew dearer still to those who knew it. Today, that ship-shaped cake lines the shelves of some five hundred shops across Kanagawa, chosen again and again by the people of Yokohama. A tower that stands as a symbol of the harbour. A cake fashioned in the shape of the harbour. Within the landscape of Yokohama, these two 'Harbours' remain side by side — as if keeping each other company, just as they always have. A luxurious marron cake baked using traditional methods, inspired by the ships of Yokohama's celebrated port. A homemade Harbour filling of finely chopped chestnuts is nestled gently within a thin, soft castella sponge, yielding a moist texture and a beautifully balanced flavour of chestnut that lingers on the palate. Product name: Yokohama Harbour Double Marron Manufacturer and seller: Ariake Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Naka-ku, Yokohama) Product lineup: In addition to the Yokohama Harbour Double Marron, a diverse range of flavours is available, including the Kaikō Harbour Matcha Kuromitsu and the Milk Harbour Mont Blanc, among others. Anniversary: August 8 — 'Ariake Harbour Day' (officially recognised by the Japan Anniversary Association in 2020) Awards: Selected among the 'Kanagawa Top 100 Local Specialties'; recipient of the JR East Souvenir Grand Prix, and more Main retail locations: Harbour's Moon Main Store (Naka-ku, Yokohama), Ariake Harbour Studio Yokohama Hammerhead, and approximately 500 directly operated and affiliated stores throughout Kanagawa Prefecture Official website: harbour-world.jp