Gardena

It's been at least a year since I brought you here:

for this:

As a last day party, I had dozens of sushi bentos made, since we'd had such good sessions all semester. Never flagged once. Kinda unusual. BTW, Sakae Sushi was all sold out for their New Year's order. :(

Now, here's the other old school haunt of my childhood:

Sakura-ya makes Japanese sweets called manju and mochi and, like Sakae Sushi, package them in clean white boxes, wrapping paper, and tie with a ribbon before your very eyes. I grew accustomed to this way of packaging and seemed normal and was a nice continuity with practices I'd later see in Japan.Sorry, but we dug into the box before I got my camera:

Gooey rice cakes with adzuki (red, white) bean fillings - not overly sweet. The exquisite packaging is a holdover of the tea ceremony, for which these are often used, upping the presentation aspect of these delectables.
This man's father was the guy I remember as a kid. This place makes just enough manju then puts the CLOSED sign up sometime early afternoon. Hasn't changed a bit, although they stopped serving Japanese shaved ice in the summers. That was the main reason we used to beg to go there.

I also happened to notice this sign next door:They are advertising the making of Japanese style rooms - ie tatami mat, pine cubicle style with flower arranging alcove - for your home. People with money make the tea ceremony rooms overlooking a garden; others outfit a guestroom or Japanese bath with soaking tub - think of it as an indoor hottub.