{
  "id": 6006553,
  "title": "Shinto shrine gate parfaits that tell your fortune now being served in Tokyo",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/shinto-shrine-gate-parfaits-that-tell-your-fortune-now-being-served",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-06T17:30:33.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SoraNews24",
    "slug": "soranews24",
    "url": "https://soranews24.com/2026/09/07/shinto-shrine-gate-parfaits-that-tell-your-fortune-now-being-served-in-tokyo/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "At the base of the Skytree, a dessert draws inspiration from enmusubi traditions. Negawakuba, a store located in Solamachi, the entertainment complex at the foot of the Skytree in Tokyo's Oshiage district, specializes in good-luck charms rooted in Shinto customs and folklore. This theme is mirrored in the attached cafe, which serves Japanese-style ice cream parfaits infused with fortune telling.\n\nThe Enmusubi no Goen Ice Manpuku no Imo is a special dessert featuring a cookie shaped like a vibrant red torii gate, a symbol marking the entrance to Shinto shrine grounds. This is complemented by a swirl of espuma cream and sweet potato chips, sweet potato paste, and glazed sweet potato sprinkled with black sesame. All of these ingredients are presented atop a cup of salty vanilla ice cream.\n\nThe dessert's name, Enmusubi no Goen Ice Manpuku no Imo, carries playful puns. Enmusubi is a good luck charm believed to foster harmonious relationships, while goen can mean both \"honorable salt\" and \"10,000 blessings.\" Manpuku signifies either \"full/satisfied stomach\" or \"10,000 blessings\" when written differently. Translating the name as \"Filling Salty Ice Cream Sweet Potato Enmusubi\" or \"Blessed Good Relationship Seet Potato Enmusubi\" encapsulates its meaning.\n\nInside the dessert's whimsical imagery is an usagi mikuji, a small rabbit figurine accompanied by a paper predicting one's fortune. Usagi mikuji are often sold at Shinto shrines, and Negawakuba offers a set bundled with the Enmusubi no Goen Ice Manpuku no Imo for 1,275 yen (US$8). Alternatively, customers can purchase it à la carte for 750 yen or with a cup of black tea from Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, where enmusubi are considered particularly effective.\n\nIf customers don't opt for the usagi mikuji set, they can still receive a traditional mikuji fortune by drawing from a box, and they can also ring kagura suzu bells, used by shrine maidens during ceremonial dances, with a heartfelt wish. The parfait can be ordered as an eat-in or take-out item and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. The cafe, Negawakuba, is located in Solamachi, East Yard, 4th floor, Tokyo Skytree.",
  "summary": "At the base of the Skytree there’s a dessert rooted in enmusubi traditions. I think we can all agree that at any moment when you’re eating ice cream, you’re enjoying one of life’s great blessings. It’s when your dessert is finished that your mind will once again start to wonder about what your future fate […]",
  "key_points": [
    "Negawakuba store in Tokyo's Oshiage district offers Shinto-inspired fortune telling parfaits.",
    "Enmusubi no Goen Ice Manpuku no Imo dessert features torii gate-shaped cookie and espuma cream.",
    "Usagi mikuji rabbit figurine and mikuji fortune telling available with dessert purchase."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}