Auspicious Pastel Wedding Rice Pearls "Kagawa Oiri", Shodoshima Extra-Virgin Olive Oil & Ehime "Botchan Dango"

In western Kagawa Prefecture (*Seisan*), particularly along the approach to Kotohira-gu Shrine, travelers encounter a 400-year-old auspicious confection that looks like miniature pastel pearls: **Oiri**. Originating in the late 16th century as a wedding favor gifted by brides to their new neighbors—symbolizing a wish to *"keep a well-rounded heart and work diligently"*—*Oiri* are hollow, one-centimeter spheres of roasted glutinous rice tinted in soft shades of rose, mint green, lemon, lavender, and white. Unlike crunchy rice crackers, *Oiri* have a gossamer-thin shell lightly perfumed with cinnamon (*Nikki*) that dissolves almost weightlessly on the tongue the instant it touches the palate, making them both an iconic topping for soft-serve ice cream (**Oiri Soft**) and a charming bottled keepsake. From Shodoshima Island in Kagawa Prefecture comes Japan's premier estate-grown **Shodoshima Olive** collection. Because local *Mission* and *Lucca* olives are harvested entirely by hand to prevent bruising and cold-pressed within 24 hours of picking, **Shodoshima Extra-Virgin Olive Oil** and additive-free **Cosmetic Virgin Olive Skincare Oil** are prized across Japan for their fruity freshness, rich polyphenols, and plant-derived *squalene*, accompanied by popular souvenirs such as olive-leaf herbal teas, olive-oil salad dressings, and green olive chocolates. Over in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, two storied confections await travelers stepping out of the historic baths of Dogo Onsen: **Botchan Dango** and **Matsuyama Tarto** (led by *Ichiroku Tarto* and *Utako Tarto*). Named after the protagonist of Natsume Soseki's beloved 1906 novel *Botchan*—inspired by Soseki's own fondness for local tea-stall dumplings while teaching in Matsuyama—*Botchan Dango* skewers three petite spheres of smooth bean paste in green Uji matcha, golden egg yolk, and dark azuki red bean wrapped around a tender mochi core; meanwhile, *Matsuyama Tarto*, adapted in the 17th century by feudal lord Sadayuki Matsudaira from a Portuguese sponge roll recipe in Nagasaki, wraps fragrant Ehime *Yuzu*-infused red bean paste inside fluffy *Castella* cake in the spiral shape of the Japanese hiragana character *"no" (の)*.