South of Hanshin Nishinomiya Station, in the Nishinomiya Chuo Shopping Street, there is a greengrocer called “万田里（マンダリ）” (Mandari).
But it’s not just an ordinary greengrocer. It is also the maker of items like the local mascot character “ふくみみ福ちゃん” and “えびす福お面せんべい,” a rice cracker inspired by an Ebessan mask.
Why is a greengrocer making mascot characters and traditional sweets?
We went to hear the story.
目次
The Exterior of Fruit and Vegetable Shop “万田里（マンダリ）”
This is what the shop looks like from the outside.
At first glance, it looks like an ordinary greengrocer.
What makes it different from an ordinary greengrocer may be the Ebessan sitting out front.
This stone statue of Ebessan was made by the shop owner himself.
After the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, he hoped to help revitalize the shopping street by making statues of all Seven Lucky Gods and lining them up along the approach to the shrine, but he couldn’t get permission to use the road. In the end, he was only able to make this one statue of Ebessan.
Inside Fruit and Vegetable Shop “万田里（マンダリ）”
A variety of vegetables and fruits are lined up.
They all look fresh and delicious.
This part is very much like a regular greengrocer.
When you look up toward the top of the shop, there are lots of photos featuring Fuku-chan.
Then, when we went into the room next door, the actual Fuku-chan was there～～～
This room was selling all kinds of goods from the shopping street.
Their signature item is this “えびす福お面せんべい” (600 yen).
The Story Behind the Birth of “えびす福お面せんべい”
Many people visit Nishinomiya Shrine every year, but there wasn’t really a signature specialty associated with it.
So when the shop owner was serving as an officer of the shopping street, the idea came up to “create some kind of specialty item for Nishinomiya Shrine.” That is how this “えびす福お面せんべい” was born. The planning and development were handled by “ともも.”
However, although there were traditional sweet shops in the shopping street, everyone was a complete beginner when it came to making wheat-flour senbei crackers, so the early days were apparently full of challenges.
They visited Fushimi Inari, where similar crackers are made, and held repeated discussions about the design and ingredients before finally managing to complete it.
But the finished mold weighed an astonishing 4 kg!!
The dough is placed between the molds, then cooked over the firebed while being flipped and moved around again and again so it bakes evenly. With a mold weighing 4 kg, this is quite a tough job.
They were also particular about the flavor, using brown sugar and kinako roasted soybean flour, which makes the cracker prone to cracking. Baking it without breaking is apparently very difficult.
These days, the son of the owner of “マンダリ” is in charge of making the senbei.
Trying “えびす福お面せんべい”
Since we were there, we bought an “えびす福お面せんべい” to take home.
Here is the package.
It has a very lucky-looking design.
When we opened the package, Ebessan’s face appeared～～
This is the “えびす福お面せんべい.”
But when you think about it, is it really okay to eat a mask of Ebessan?
Wouldn’t that bring divine punishment……
As we were wondering about that, we found the following written on the website of the developer, “ともも.”
Break it, and it becomes many blessings
We sometimes hear comments like “I can’t bring myself to break the sacred face of Ebisu-sama” or “It cracked on the way home, which was disappointing,” but this Ebisu lucky mask is something we want you to break with all your might.
When it breaks, many blessings are born. We hope you will break it into many pieces and share it with everyone.
That is exactly what will make Ebisu-sama very happy. The chief priest of Nishinomiya Shrine has also given his approval, saying, “Since good fortune enters the body, eating it should bring happiness.”(Source: ともも)
The leaflet included in the package also said to break it and eat it together with everyone.↓
So let’s break it and try it ourselves.
First, we place the senbei on a plate.
It’s a pretty big cracker.
We placed a ballpoint pen next to it so you can get a sense of the size.
Now we’ll hit it from above to break it……
Here we go.
Ready, set!!
Crack!!
It actually breaks more cleanly than we expected.
You can break it nicely just by hitting it with your hand.
The Nishitsu members shared the good fortune among ourselves, prayed for the success of this weekend’s “阪西ばる（はんにしバル）,” and enjoyed it deliciously～～
Fruit and Vegetable Shop “万田里（マンダリ）” Store Information
★Business hours: 10:00～19:00
★Closed Sundays
★Phone number 0798-26-2400
★Address 兵庫県西宮市馬場町6-6
(*Business hours and other details are from the time of our visit. Please check directly with the shop for the latest information.)
