Hidden Tokyo: Papabubble Caramel Artesans

Somewhere down a small twisting street of Shibuya a world away from the hustle and bustle and barrage of noise and neon, lies a small unassuming sweet shop. Stepping through the doors the first thing you notice is the unbelievably warm sweet smell wafting though the premises. Glancing to the side you then notice three highly energetic smiling staff members tugging, rolling, pulling and generally non stop manipulating huge rolls of what will soon become the bright electric colored candy that lines the other side of the store. Welcome to the world of Papabubble in Tokyo, a candy sanctuary where they don’t simply sell sweets but craft “artesanal caramel” for it’s sweet toothed patrons.

Originally from Barcellona the brand has small outlets all over the world including Hong Kong, New York, Seoul and two here in Tokyo. The interior of the shop is designed with an antique style feel but with a modern twist, the warm wood and dark colors making the vivid reds, greens, yellows and every other color you can think of stand out in the bags and jars of candy, lollipops and sweet goodness that line the shop.

I arrived just as “candy artists” Yosuke and Yukie were about to start crafting a brand new recipe that Yosuke had dreamt up that week. With obvious pride in his work Yosuke described each step he went through as he constantly manipulated one form or another the candy ingredients go through before taking shape in the final products. “It’s hard work but great fun, you have to have strength and of course love candy” he comments as he kneads the ingredients that as yet it is hard to see how they will become the final small hard sweets.

Meanwhile the hugely energetic and smiling Yukie never stops as she cuts or layers the ingredients on the large work top that runs the length of the shop wall. Over the course of the hour it takes from start to finish I don’t see her or Yosuke stop once at any point, even taking the dough like ingredients to a wall where it is hung over a peg and rigorously stretched over and over as it starts to elongate out.

It’s hard not to be impressed as the team work their magic much to the delight of the handful of customers who have wandered in during the process. “Today’s new recipe will be released when we open our third store in Yokohama at the end of January this year” shop manager Keisuke “Tom” Maehara informs me of the planned expansion here since opening it’s first store in the Nakano district 6 years ago.

The Japan shop has also collaborated with multimedia artist Yuka Otani to produce “Sweet Vessels” an edible work of art also on sale in the store. If a bag or jar of the candy wasn’t enough the artist has made life size glasses and wine tumblers made entirely out of candy and are designed to gradually melt and re-crystalize over time.

The whole concept goes well in sweet toothed Japan where an eye for refined quality makes it a perfect market for Papabubble. A younger generations product but made for a more mature customer, the brand have been able to tap into a golden formula here. The craft feel to the shops as well as the well designed black uniforms of the staff enhance this formula and the range of different flavors made with top line ingredients speak for themselves, of which there are plenty to try before you buy in the shop.

Papabuble is open 10:30am-9:00pm everyday except Mondays. It is worth popping down on an empty stomach to sample the goods, watch the friendly staff work their magic and generally indulge your inner child.

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