Japan Heritage story
The Sugar Road: sweets along the Nagasaki Kaido
砂糖文化を広めた長崎街道
From the late 16th century, Portuguese, Dutch and Chinese ships brought sugar to Nagasaki, and it travelled up the Nagasaki Kaido road through Saga to Kokura. Along this Sugar Road, northern Kyushu developed sweets found nowhere else in Japan, still made by hand today.
Key facts
- Theme
- Sea and waterside, Food and sake
- Era
- Edo
- Region
- Kansai, Kyushu & Okinawa
- Official name in Japanese
- 砂糖文化を広めた長崎街道
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ～シュガーロード～
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 長崎県（長崎市、諫早市、大村市）・佐賀県（嬉野市、小城市、佐賀市）・福岡県（飯塚市、北九州市）
The story
Nagasaki opened to Portuguese trade in 1571, and with it came sugar, new cooking methods and spices. By the early 18th century more than 2,000 tonnes of sugar a year arrived, kept in special warehouses on Dejima. The Nagasaki Kaido, 228 km with 25 post towns from Nagasaki to Kokura, carried officials, merchants, the Dutch on their way to Edo, and sugar. Confectioners along the road could go to Nagasaki and learn Western and Chinese recipes first-hand.
The result was a sweet culture unlike anywhere else: castella-style cakes, marubolo biscuits, rice-puff okoshi, and smooth Ogi yokan made with Saga's clear water and good beans. From the Meiji era on, sweet buns fuelled coal miners in Chikuho, and pocket-size kurogane yokan fed workers at the Yawata steelworks. The lords who guarded Nagasaki, the Kuroda and Nabeshima, could buy sugar first, which is why these sweets cluster in their old lands.
What to see
- Dejima: the old Dutch trading post in Nagasaki, with a restored sugar warehouse.Google Maps 出島和蘭商館跡 (opens in a new tab)
- Sofukuji: a vermilion Chinese-style temple in Nagasaki that received sugar from Fujian merchants.Google Maps 崇福寺 長崎 (opens in a new tab)
- Shiotatsu: a post town in Saga where sugar dealers and sweet shops once lined the road.Google Maps 塩田津 (opens in a new tab)
- Muraoka Sohonpo Yokan Museum: the history and tools of Ogi yokan.Google Maps 村岡総本舗 羊羹資料館 (opens in a new tab)
Plan your trip with the Nagasaki prefecture guide, the Saga prefecture guide and the Fukuoka prefecture guide, and see more history.
Good to know
- Look for konpeito, sugar stars that craftspeople roast in a pan for 14 days.
- Try marubolo, a round Saga biscuit from the area's rice and wheat country.
- Join a sweet-making class along the road to see the craft up close.
Questions travellers ask
Why is it called the Sugar Road?
Sugar imported at Nagasaki travelled along the Nagasaki Kaido, and the road became famous for sweets. The nickname plays on the Silk Road.
Where does the Nagasaki Kaido run?
From Kokura in Fukuoka through Saga to Nagasaki, about 228 km with 25 post towns.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Aizu's 33 Kannon pilgrimage: faith with a day out
- Asuka: the women who shaped the birth of Japan
- Date Masamune's dazzling culture in Sendai and Matsushima
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Hakone Hachiri: walking the Edo stone road over Hakone
- Hida no Takumi: 1,300 years of master woodworkers in Takayama
- Hizen: the birthplace of Japanese porcelain
- Iga and Koka: in search of the real ninja
- Iki, Tsushima and Goto: Japan's border islands
- Izumo: the sacred land where the sun sets
- Kamenose: crossing the landslide heart of the Tatsuta Kodo
- Katsuragi Shugen: where mountain asceticism began
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.