Tokyo Station's 'sweet souvenir' shops

Tokyo Station, which every day averages about 400,000 passengers, celebrated its 100th anniversary on December 20, 2014. Besides hosting several commemorative events, bringing out a special bento and releasing a limited-edition Suica card (which caused chaos akin to a Black Friday rush), the station is offering an array of unique sweet treats and souvenirs. Great for omiyage (souvenir gifts) or just for munching on the way home. Here are ten of the best...

Yoku Moku

Known for its crunchy butter-rich Cigare cookies and assorted gift packages, Yoku Moku has added Gaufre (waffle) confectionery to its lineup with a limited edition of 'Tokyo Honey Sugar' (¥594 for six pieces) available at Tokyo Station for the centenary celebrations. As 2015 got underway, the Tokyo Honey Sugar cookie was a firm favourite with its hexagon nest, beehive motif, crunchy texture and subtle honey flavour.
Where to find it: Near the Shinkansen South transit ticket gate. Map and details

Tokyo Banana

One of the city's most popular sweet souvenirs, Tokyo Banana has been delighting locals and tourists with its soft sponge cake and creamy banana-flavoured centre for over two decades now. They experiment with other flavours too, like chocolate and caramel, and their 'animal-print' designs (we particularly love the giraffe pattern) are uber cute. ¥515 for four cakes.
Where to find it: Marunouchi Central Exit, Select Market store. Map and details

Forma

Originally based in Osaka, this cheesecake specialist now has a branch in Tokyo Station. One of its most popular items is the ‘Originally Assorted Tokyo Station’ box (¥1,944) which includes six pieces of delicious cheesecake. Perfect for dinner or office parties – that's if you can resist chomping through the entire box on your own (easily doable).
Where to find it: Near the Yaesu Underground Central Exit, 1F Gransta Dining. Map and details

The Maple Mania

Running out of fresh ideas for sweet souvenirs from Tokyo? If you've exhausted the typical Tokyo Banana and Hiyoko options, turn your attention to the cookies, pastries and dry cakes from The Maple Mania, the maple syrup-loving sweets shop conveniently located inside the ticket gates at Tokyo Station. Contrary to what their ads suggest, the offerings are less 'American' and more typically Japanese, which is to say they're elaborately packaged and are pretty much guaranteed to taste good.
Where to find it: 1F Gransta Dining, inside Tokyo Station. Map and details

Awaya So-bey

This traditional Japanese confectioner has been in the business of sweets for over 70 years. They use time-honoured recipes, which always include carefully sourced red beans for the azuki paste, but they also keep things fresh with creative designs (the animal faces always inspire 'oohs' and 'aahs'). For Tokyo Station's 100th anniversary in December 2014, they came up with this brilliant replica of the station itself (¥260 for one).
Where to find it: 1F Gransta Dining, inside Tokyo Station. Map and details

Tokyo Fumiu

Focusing on ingredients used during the Edo period, Tokyo Fumiu presents a very traditional assortment of products. The Edo Musubisen (¥1,080) pack features baked rice crackers in three flavours: miso, soy sauce and salt (sourced locally), making this a good option for those who prefer savoury over sweet.
Where to find it: Near the Shinkansen South transit ticket gate. Map and details

Standby Tokyo

Besides the luxury Japanese sweets from Tokyo Campanella, which are baked to perfection in wavy, delicate langue de chat style, this café and store offers a wealth of great gifts and souvenirs such as Klean Kanteen tumblers and a range of Traveney and Travelife products. It also makes for a great pitstop as the café serves delicious coffee from Sarutahiko and hosts photographic exhibitions curated by Popeye Camera.
Where to find it: Near the Shinkansen South transit ticket gate. Map and details

Tokyo Anpan Mameichizu

Mameichizu's 'Brick bread' (¥257) tastes better than its name suggests. Once you slice it in half, you'll see why – it's filled with delicious jam and butter cream. Kind of like a 'scone on the run', in a way.
Where to find it: Near the Shinkansen South transit ticket gate, Ecute. Map and details

Sweets Atelier Tokyo no Hatakekara

Tokyo no Hatakekara started out as a vegetable producer before expanding their business to include a confectionery. Still, veg is their speciality and most of their sweets are based on the humble sweet potato with unfussy but clever packaging that makes you feel like you're buying a box of fresh sweet potatoes picked straight from the fields. Our favourites are ‘Potato chiboust cream’, ‘Potato reine’ and ‘Baked potato sable’ (¥1,080 for 16 pieces ).
Where to find it: Near the Shinkansen South transit ticket gates, Ecute. Map and details

Fabrice Gillotte

Make sure you stop in at this specialty chocolate shop and pick up a selection of its chocolate-smothered confections. As part of the station's 100th birthday celebration, Fabrice Gillotte has brought out a limited-edition 'Tokyo Mille-feuille' range, featuring strawberry and passion fruit meringue sandwiched between mille-feuille and coated with flavours of green tea or milk chocolate.
Where to find it: Near the Yaesu North exit, Tokyo Me＋. Map and details