Konpeitō, also spelled kompeitō, is a Japanese sugar candy. They come in a variety of colors and flavors.
Etymology
The word konpeitō comes from the Portuguese word confeito, which is a type of sugar candy. The characters 金平糖 are ateji selected mostly for their phonetic value, and the word can also be written 金米糖 or 金餅糖.
History
This technique for producing candy was introduced to Japan in the early 16th century by Portuguese traders. The infrastructure and refining technology of sugar had not yet been established in Japan in those days. As konpeitō uses a lot of sugar, it was very rare and expensive as a result. In 1569, Luís Fróis, a Portuguese missionary, presented a glass flask of konpeitō to Oda Nobunaga in order to obtain the permit for mission work of Christianity. By the Meiji period, konpeitō had already been culturally prescribed as one of the standards of Japanese sweets—the character Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker was translated into konpeitō no sei.
Production
Konpeitō is usually in diameter and is produced by repeatedly coating a sugar syrup over a core consisting of a grain of coarse sugar. Originally, the core was a poppy seed. The process is somewhat similar to the dragée process, except the candies are produced by being ladled with sugar syrup and rotated slowly in a large heated gong-shaped tub called a "dora". Each grain of the core sugar grows over the course of several days with the continued rotating, heating, and application of syrup, becoming a ball covered with tiny bulges. It usually takes 7–13 days to make konpeitō, and they are crafted by artisans even today.
Other Uses
The Ministry of Defense's Emergency Food Ration tins and the Imperial Army’s Military Combat Ration tins in Japan both contain Konpeito candies, in addition to hard tack bread/biscuits and other food items. While the candies aid in the calorie content necessary for activities, it also helps promote the creation of saliva to make it easier to eat the dry bread. According to the Ministry of Defense 's specifications, "Each white emergency ration bag will contain 150g of small dry bread, with 8 whites, 3 reds, 2 yellows, 2 greens as standard, amounting to 15g or more to be put in the bag.” It is thought that providing the colorful and enjoyable Konpeito, will also reduce the stress that would be experienced at times during a disaster. Konpeito is often used for celebrations such as marriage and childbirth, in elaborate candy boxes called bonbonniere, from the French bonbonnière, meaning candy box.. It is given as a gift for prayers at shrines and temples. The practice of giving bonbonniere dates back to the commemoration ceremony of the Meiji Constitution in 1889 and has since been thought to be a symbol of good luck. The Japanese Imperial Family has used this gift as the official ‘Welcome’ gift continuously for over 130 years.
Popular references
The Star Bits in Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel, the Gratitude Crystals in ', and Minior, as well as Max Revives and Cosmog's star candies from the Pokémon series, are all based on these candies. Super Mario RPG also features it as an attack item that was localized as "Rock Candy". They can also be seen in the 2001 Japanese animated filmSpirited Away, as well as in various anime, such as Bleach, Hamtaro, Wish Upon the Pleiades, Sailor Moon, Kobato, Happy Sugar Life, and Stellvia. They appear as a consumable item in Touken Ranbu; consuming one raises a character's experience points by a small amount. They feature as a key element in the 2017 film Honnōji Hotel. In the Anime Kobato, the sweet and naïve Hanato Kobato comes to Earth on a mission to collect and fill a bottle with "konpeito", which appear after healing a person's heart that is suffering. In Season 1 of Hamtaro, Laura introduces Hamtaro to konpeito-shaped candies called Diamonds of Sugar. Boss says that the candies are the same things as stars in the sky. The Ham-Hams want to catch the supposed Diamonds of Sugar from the sky, but they're unaware of the stars' actual distance from Earth until they spot a shooting star. Meanwhile, Laura and Kana's families are having a garden party and watch the stars too. In the anime Pokémon Sun and ', favorite food as a Cosmog is the Japanese star-shaped candy konpeito. In the web-series Bee and Puppycat, Bee's dadbox makes a candy that bears a striking resemblance to the sugary treat. In , Star Fragments resemble the candy.
