Eel Pie Factory

Eel pie, a popular Shizuoka specialty, is a western-style confectionery characterized by its savory flavor and crispy texture.

This eel pie is loved by many because of the eel extract, butter, garlic, and other ingredients that are exquisitely woven into the dough.

Visitors to the “Eel Pie Factory” can observe the production process.

The “Factory Tour,” in which visitors can learn about the process from preparation to boxing with explanations from the staff, has been very well received.

There is also a question-and-answer period, so visitors can get to know the secrets of the delicious taste.

Furthermore, inside the “Eel Pie Factory” there is a store selling souvenirs and goods featuring the official character “Unakun.

And a café is also open for business, offering a lineup of sweets made from eel pies. Please come and try the happy taste of eel pie combined with ice cream and chocolate.

Shunkado, founded in 1887, has been making the western confectionery “eel pie” since 1961, and the “Eel Pie Factory” opened in 2005.

This facility is based on the concept of “interacting with artisans” and has become a Hamamatsu landmark, visited by more than 600,000 people annually.

The “Eel Pie Factory” offers concierge-led tours of the production process, a café where visitors can enjoy limited-edition sweets, and a factory-direct store. It is a place that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from children to adults.

Factory tours are offered in a style that allows visitors to tour the factory freely at their own pace, and concierge-led factory tours are also available (free of charge, reservations required). The production process of eel pies, carefully made by craftsmen, is explained in an easy-to-understand manner.

Eel pie dough is made by the skilled hands of artisans, using butter, flour, and special granulated sugar, and the mixture and folding of the dough are fine-tuned according to temperature and humidity. Eel extract is added and the pie is then baked in an oven.

From the aisle inside the factory, visitors can watch the pies being baked in the kiln. The temperature in the kiln is about 300 degrees Celsius, and fine adjustments are made to produce a delicious browning and crispy texture. The baked eel pies are coated with a secret sauce made by artisans, and approximately 200,000 pies are produced each day.

From the second floor of the factory, visitors can see the packaging line process. It is fascinating to see how the packaging by machine is almost fully automated and the products are packaged one after another.

Afterwards, visitors can enjoy a variety of eel pie sweets at the “Eel Pie Cafe. The standard eel pie mini and the sweets combined with homemade vanilla gelato and seasonal fruits are especially recommended.

In addition, new menu items such as Eel Pie V.S.O.P. and Eel Pie with Nuts are also available, offering a new way to enjoy eel pie.

Finally, at the factory-direct store on the first floor, you can purchase “Eel Pie V.S.O.P.” and assorted sets, which are only available in Shizuoka and Aichi Prefectures.

Shunkado’s belief is to “delight people through sweets,” and its witty and hospitable space and food is a place where visitors can feel the secret of Eel Pie’s popularity.

Eel Pie

This western-style confectionery sold by Shunkado is widely known throughout Japan as a specialty of Shizuoka Prefecture.

Eel pie is made by kneading eel extract into the pie crust, baking it, and then coating it with a kabayaki-like sauce. Note, however, that it does not taste like eel.

It is such a popular snack that, according to a 2022 Netorabo survey, it was ranked fifth in the list of local specialties that people would be happy to receive as souvenirs.

The origin of the eel pie dates back to 1961. Koichi Yamazaki, the second president of Shunkado, came up with the idea of a Western-style confectionery using eels, associating Hamamatsu with its location near Lake Hamana, where eels are grown. The current eel pie was created with reference to the French confectionery Palmier.

After sales began, the development of transportation infrastructure in the Tokai region provided a tailwind, and sales grew rapidly: from 600,000 units in 1962, annual sales reached 7 million units in 1965, just three years later, and surpassed 10 million units in 1966.

Following this success, the company spun off its pie-making division as a separate company and established “Eel Pie Honpo Co. Ltd. and has been manufacturing eel pies ever since.

Then, in 2005, the company opened the “Eel Pie Factory” in the Hamamatsu Technology Industrial Park, a new factory where visitors can observe the process of making eel pies.

Night Sweets

Eel Pie is known by the catchphrase “nighttime snack,” a phrase invented by the company’s former president.

Originally, it was intended as a souvenir to take home on business trips or vacations, in the hope that people would take it home and enjoy a good time with their families.

The nuance of “energy-boosting,” as it is popularly known today, had nothing to do with the original intent.

One of the reasons why the catchphrase “Eel Pie” is misunderstood is that Hamamatsu at the time of its launch was experiencing a period of rapid economic growth, and the downtown area was bustling at night. Under such circumstances, customers who saw the phrase “nighttime snacks” may have misunderstood it, associating it with “energy-boosting eels. However, the company did not intend to deny this misunderstanding, but rather considered a sales strategy that leveraged this image.

The current packaging for Eel Pie is red in color, but the company had previously considered a design that would fit the nighttime snack, based on the red, black, and yellow image of the Mamushi drink.

It should also be noted that Eel Pie’s ingredients also include garlic, making it a “condiment of the night”.

Eel pie’s sister products

There are two types of eel pie: a plain type and a type with nuts mixed in.

In addition, the sister products of Eel Pie are

Morning snack “Suppon-no-sato
Lunchtime snack “Shirasu Pie
Midnight snack “Eel Pie VSOP
are also available. These products are sold together as “Eel Pie Assortment Full Time”.

Eel Pie VSOP is also sold separately, at a higher price than regular Eel Pie. As the name “VSOP” suggests, it is characterized by the presence of brandy.