Video Shows the Insane Colors of Harajuku's "Totti Candy Factory"!
- Written by: Devan Jean
Do you have dreams of gumdrops and lollipops? Well Totti Candy Factory in Harajuku sure does! They have drifted away on a cloud of cotton candy and want to take you with them! This shop has possibly the biggest and most beautiful cotton candy you’ve ever seen! Their products are currently hottest Japanese dessert trend. Specifically, we are talking about Totti’s famous mountain of rainbow cotton candy. Professional cotton candy makers spin these popular treats all day for endless customers.
Have You Tried These Famous Rainbow Clouds of Sugar?
This sweets shop became instantly famous because of its signature giant cotton candy. This confection boasts not only its massive size but also it’s cute pastel colors. The cotton candy has gone viral on Instagram and Twitter as one of the most popular “selfiable” items in Japan. It’s so perfect for pictures, that customers stand outside the shop all day taking photos with their own mountain-sized treats. The cotton candy comes in three different variations.
The most popular being the five different colored rainbow mountain. It is very reasonably priced for its size. You can get one of these for just 900 yen (less than $9 USD).
Here is a their slightly smaller but still delicious tri-colored mountain cotton candy. This is the cheapest candy in the store, Just running around 600 yen or less than $6 USD.
There is another popular menu that is their unique heart-shaped cotton candy, which is too cute to eat! This definitely won’t break the bank with the cost only being 650 yen or about $6 USD.
One of the biggest draws of this cotton candy for young girls is not only the cuteness, but also the fact that the calories count is surprisingly low for something so big and completely made of sugar. We can attribute some of Totti’s popularity to the fact the girls from everywhere are able to get this adorable sweet treat, that’s bigger than their heads, and still consume less than 200 calories.
If you want to try all of the flavors, then all make sure to get the 5 colored giant version of their cotton candy. The standard flavors Totti offers are melon, grape, lemon, soda, plain, and strawberry. Totti also has a variety of limited-time flavors that the rotate in throughout the year. The current seasonal flavor is mango! They also offer seasonal holiday products for Halloween and Christmas. And on super special occasions, Totti teams up with other companies such as Sanrio to create unique character products.
Let’s Make Mountains!
We were able to get an up-close look at the cotton candy making process when we visited Totti Candy Factory. Totti starts with buckets of colored, flavored sugar which they use to make the cotton candy, and a little goes a long way with these.
Start with a just a tablespoon or so of the base color for the cotton candy and watch the sugar fly. The key to this process is how well you can spin the cotton candy. It's not a matter of speed so much as it is position and passion. It takes employees around three weeks to get the hang of the cotton candy machines and to then make each cotton candy to their proper massive size.
We were given some tips on making a perfect cotton candy mountain directly from the manager. In each machine there is hole at its center, this is where the cotton candy is made. To get a good shape move your stick upward or horizontally to make sure its balanced properly. You must also continually keep spinning the stick at an even speed to get a smooth, lump-free shape. When you think the base section it's big enough, start spinning the other colors on top of it. To make a layered look, each portion should be spaced a little bit below the previous one beneath it. This is what gives both the rainbow effect and the mountain or cone shape. Just repeat this a few times until to get your perfect cotton candy.
How Long Can You Wait?
Why is this shop so popular? Totti Candy Factory opened its doors in Tokyo this year, and soon after, many popular magazines and TV shows featured this shop in articles and variety shows. Because of this, as soon as they opened there were insanely long lines out the door. At the beginning, people would wait up to five hours for Totti’s famous treats.
To handle the huge demand for Totti Candy Factory treats, they needed to develop a system to organize the long queue times. They ended up giving out numbered tickets to waiting customers. These gave you a registered number and a time for when you can come back to the store and order your candy. That way people wouldn’t have to actually stand outside their shop for five hours. And if you have ever been to Takeshita Street in Harajuku, you know that the roads there are not nearly wide enough to accommodate that many people. So giving the tickets helped both with boredom and inevitable human congestion. Totti in Harajuku still usually gets really crowded on every Monday and on weekends. Even now, Totti will sometimes have to tell customers to come back to the shop to buy sweets up to three hours later.
Can You Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth?
The cotton candy is not the only cute thing inside Totti Candy Factory. The shop itself is super photogenic. Totti Candy Factory is covered in candy and sweet treats. Everywhere you look you will find something sweet to eat. From pink and white baubles hanging from the ceiling, to the entire wall of take-away cotton candy, everywhere you look is an adorable feast for the eyes and stomach.
If cotton candy is not enough to satisfy you, give some of their other signature desserts a try. Totti offers premade animal shaped cake-pops if you want something a bit more rich. These cake-pops are made in advance and come in a variety of animals and flavors.
Totti uses an original recipe for the cake-pops was developed by a French chef. If you thought that eating the cotton candy was difficult because of cuteness, try chomping on the faces of these adorable animals. Just make sure to get lots of pictures first before eating!
Like other candy stores around Harajuku, Totti has a wide candy selection which is sold based on weight. These candies tend towards the completely kawaii side, but they also offer some classic selections such as sour, rainbow ribbons and animal gummies.
Indulge your sweet tooth and pick out some of your favorites and a couple new ones to take home and try.
Become a Cotton Candy Master!
At their shop in Tachikawa, they actually have a class available to learn how to make cotton candy!
This is a very limited class offered by Totti Candy Factory in Tachikawa, so you won’t find it in their packed Harajuku location. These classes are held twice a month and registration is extremely limited. This class let’s customers experience how to make their own sugary clouds, and are open for all ages. So it's a great opportunity to spend some delicious bonding time with the whole family. But be warned, you will leave these classes covered in sugar and tasting sweet, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Totti Candy Factory has captured the hearts of all who come to Harajuku. Now regarded as one of the must-see destinations, in one of the most fashion forward cities in the world. If you come to Tokyo looking to try one of their signature sweet treats, be sure to take lots of pictures. You can find many things in Tokyo, but nothing as whimsical and delicious at the cotton candy masterpieces from Totti Candy Factory.
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Totti Candy Factory (Harajuku)トッティ キャンディ ファクトリー 原宿店
- Address 1-16-5 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo, 1500001, Japan
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Nearest Station
Harajuku Station
- Phone Number 03-3403-7007
Opening Hours:10:30 - 20:00
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Totti Candy Factory (Tachikawa)トッティ キャンディ ファクトリー ららぽーと立川立飛店
- Address 2F 935-1 Izumi-cho, Tachikawa-shi, Tokyo 1900015, Japan
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Nearest Station
Tachihi Station
Opening Hours:10:30 - 21:00
Devan was the co-founder for the anime convention Swampcon at the University of Florida. Currently living and working in Tokyo as a writer and video editor, Devan enjoys making videos about everyday life in Tokyo.
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*Prices and options mentioned are subject to change.
*Unless stated otherwise, all prices include tax.
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