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We want to spread the charm of strawberry daifuku to the world!
“Waseda University Strawberry Daifuku Study Group”

Hitomi Kumagai, Secretary-General, 3rd year School of Law

Deputy Secretary-General Mr. Asakawa (left) and the author (right). In the “Ichigo” and “Daifuku” poses

The "Waseda University Strawberry Daifuku Study Group" is the first student club at a university in Japan that engages in various activities related to strawberry daifuku. It was established in 2016 with the desire to spread the appeal of strawberry daifuku to the world.

People join the club for a variety of reasons, such as loving strawberry daifuku, loving strawberries, loving sweet things, loving cooking, wanting to try product development, or because student club name is interesting. Some members even say, "I don't like strawberries, but I joined because it seemed interesting." As it is an intercollegiate student club, there are many students from other universities, and everyone works together in a friendly atmosphere. The main activities are trial sessions for selling student club 's original strawberry daifuku, and tastings of daifuku, mainly strawberry daifuku. Other activities include summer camps, setting up stalls at WASEDASAI, and day trips.

Photo left: Strawberry picking at Shinkan
Photo on the right: When we regularly compare the tastes of commercially available daifuku, we compare four to five types at a time. This is where ideas for new product development can be born!

From 2022, we will focus on product development. I've made strawberry daifuku wrapped in white rice cake as you might imagine, daifuku wrapped in bracken mochi, and developed an original red bean paste cream. In particular, we struggled with the amount of water used when making rice cakes. If the mochi is too soft or too hard, it will be difficult to wrap the strawberries, so it took some time to find just the right amount.

Although there were some difficulties, as a result of discussion and trial and error among the members, in April 2023, we finally decided to sell a product in collaboration with "Chacha Kobo" in Nishi-Waseda for a limited time. ``Unwrappable Strawberry Daifuku'' developed by ``Chacha Kobo'' to go well with tea with a good balance of depth, aroma, and sweetness, is made with pink and white gyuhi, which is made from cherry blossoms, in time for the spring sales season. In the shape of petals. It is topped with red bean paste cream made from fresh cream and strawberries for a cute finish. He is particularly particular about the red bean paste cream, and has tried a variety of ingredients, including strained red bean paste, white bean paste, pumpkin red bean paste, and purple sweet potato paste. I have a fond memory of how I was able to finally perfect the mixture after many trial runs regarding the ratio of the amounts to be mixed and the amount to be added. Due to the popularity, in May, we started selling takeout for a limited time at our affiliated Chacha Kobo Futatsume (Asakusa store).

Photo left: "Unwrapped Strawberry Daifuku" sold in collaboration with Chacha Kobo. We also made original aprons.
Photo right: Trial production using autumn grapes. I may try fruits other than strawberries.

We welcome applications for any reason, whether you are interested in sweet product development, love strawberry daifuku, or want to learn more about daifuku. Let's liven up our activities together!

At the WASEDASAI 2023, we sold "Daifuku" (fried daifuku), which was created after repeated trial and error. Crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. We sold 1,600 pieces in two days!

[Official student club information]

◆ student club name: Waseda University Strawberry Daifuku Study Group
◆ Group classification: club
◆ student club founding year: 2016
◆ Genre: culture
◆ Activity date and time: About 3 times a month (days of the week not fixed)
◆ Number of members: 41 people (including 32 Waseda University students)
◆ Activity location: Regional center kitchen, etc.
◆ Website:https://ichigowaseda.wixsite.com/circle
◆X (old Twitter):@ichigowaseda
◆Instagram:@ichigowaseda