Embroidery art, gardening, baking led me to monkfruit candies and the spirit of wagashi art.

Monk fruit is a herbaceous plant from the gourd family. It is native to southern China and northern Thailand and was cultivated by Chinese monks many centuries ago. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, and now as a zero-calorie sweetener.

Kisshoten, holding a cintamani. The oldest preserved painting in Nara, Japan, is the inspiration for these monkfruit candies. I encountered this painting in 2012. Kisshoten is the Japanese divinity of Lakshmi. She holds a cintamani stone on her left hand, a spiritual jewel.

Malas, molded monk fruit sugar beads, 2024

I tried isomalt for its transparency but the candies didn’t age well, 2023

It is believed that candy dates back to the ancient Egyptians at around 2000BC. The first  »candies » were made from honey mixed with fruit or nuts.

Other trials~

Quartz cristal platonic solids and their monkfruit sugar candies replicas, 2023

Homemade biscuits and natural colors : spiruline, matcha, beets, curcuma, hibiscus