Among the many specialties of Noboribetsu Onsen, do you know the long-selling Kuma Manju?

Nearly 50 years ago, a souvenir shop called Bear Kanko began making a sweet that locals and visitors alike came to love. Using a dough made with brown sugar and stuffed with just the right amount of sweet red bean paste, these manju are a real crowd favorite and make a great souvenir, too! (Just a one minute walk from Dai-ichi Takimotokan, keep an eye out for the Kamaboko Iwakura sign.)

However, even if you decide not to go out, you can purchase the handmade Kuma Manju every morning in our hotel!

That’s right! From 7am until 10am every morning, Bear Kanko sets up a special stall in our hallway and sells the fresh manju.

Always cheerful even so early in the morning, the staff come to sell the manju as well as kamaboko, a tasty kind of fish sausage. They have been doing this for over 20 years!

The manju is always on sale at our gift shop, Yunomachi, but I must admit that the manju sold at this stall each morning are just a little bit different. The manju in the gift shop are vacuum-packed, so they are good to eat for up to two weeks. However, the freshly baked manju are more simply packaged (see above photo) and must be eaten within three days. (We don’t think that is such a difficult job!)

When the manju is broken open, you can see how fluffy it is and catch a scent of the brown sugar, too!

Just in case the vacuum-packed manju are more convenient for you, here is a photo of their cute boxes. This design was done for us about four years ago by students of a nearby vocational college as part of a redesign effort.

The back of the box shows a comic that tells the story of the name Bear Kanko. Around the time they started to make the manju, a baby bear raised in Noboribetsu Onsen wandered into their shop, so they decided the bear was on tour! It needed a good souvenir to take home with it, so they named their new product and company after it.

By the way, the staff suggests that if the manju becomes a little hard, warming it in the microwave for 15 seconds will make it like new.

When you come to Noboribestu Onsen and Dai-ichi Takimotokan, please try these wonderful treats!

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Freshly prepared Kuma Manju are six pieces for ¥500 yen at the stall.
Vacuum-packed Kuma Manju are 10 pieces for ¥750 yen or 15 pieces for ¥1,080.

Stall Hours
7am – 10am Every day

Yunomachi Hours
7am – 11am/2pm – 10pm Every day

Bear Kanko
One minute walk from Dai-ichi Takimotokan
Tel: 0143-84-3131
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