[Toman Buns Sold at Fujiya]
There is a bun called "Toman" sold at "Fujiya," a long-established confectionery store that has been loved by Sapporo residents for more than 70 years. Sapporo has many nationally known sweets as souvenirs, and although they are not fancy, they are gentle and nostalgic sweets that you would like to eat at a moment's notice.
Toman is similar to the sweets called oyaki, imagawayaki, and obanyaki, and is made of sponge cake dough made of flour, sugar, and eggs, baked in a round mold, and filled with white bean paste. The inside is filled with white bean paste. The sweetness is just right, and the white bean paste inside is light, making it a widely favored flavor. The size is smaller than oyaki and fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. It is a little big to eat in one bite, but it is big enough to be eaten in two or three bites. It is just right for eating one or two as a tea snack, and is also recommended as a snack for children.
It is said that the origin of toman is a baked sweet called "tomanju," which is made by baking sponge cake dough with red bean paste. Similar buns such as ningyoyaki and momiji manju are found throughout Japan, but buns named "tomanju" are made in Uwajima City in Ehime Prefecture and Sera Town in Hiroshima Prefecture exactly as they are! Ehime's buns are said to have originated in Nagasaki during the Edo period (1603-1867) when they were introduced by the Dutch. They are flat and thicker than rice crackers, made of flour and starch syrup, and filled with yuzu (citron) or brown sugar bean paste. The Hiroshima version is also a hard-baked sweet with white bean paste inside the dough without eggs, and is said to have been introduced to Japan by Kobo Daishi, a Buddhist monk, from the dango buns of Tang China.
It is said that many other places in Japan have similar buns called by different names, and although the origin of Sapporo's toman could not be clearly traced, it seems certain that this traditional bun is widely loved by the Japanese people.
Toman Fujiya
https://maps.app.goo.gl/dB7dvTdZKDWr6dNX8
Otaru Showroom
https://www.shokunin.com/en/showroom/otaru.html
References
https://sweetsvillage.com/blog/taiyaki/touman/
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%94%90%E9%A5%85%E9%A0%AD
