CASE STUDY

• Dorayaki Machine
• Dorayaki

KAIUNDO Co., Ltd.

Kaiundo is a long-established confectionery company based in Matsumoto City, one of Nagano Prefecture’s leading cultural centers, with a history spanning 142 years.
The business was founded in 1884 by its first-generation proprietor, a former kimono merchant. The second generation, who inherited a deep cultural sensibility including training in the tea ceremony, created the company’s signature sweet, Shinmito, at the end of the Taisho period. Since then, Shinmito has been cherished as a representative confection of Matsumoto for more than a century. In 1959, the third generation expanded the business by opening a Western-style confectionery shop, Paris no Gogatsu, at the main store. To commemorate the company’s 80th anniversary in 1964, Kaiun Oimatsu was introduced. The first branch store, Shofuan, opened in 1984 to mark the company’s 100th anniversary. In 1998, the fourth generation, President Koshiro Watanabe, oversaw the reconstruction of the main store. In 2005, the factory was relocated to the rural Azumino area, where Azumino Kayutei was opened, a shop with an attached café offering panoramic views of Mount Jonen. Around the same time, Managing Director Kyoko Watanabe, the president’s eldest daughter, began leading a redesign of the company’s packaging. Key products such as “Kore wa Umai” and “Nut Roulé” feature artwork by dye artist Samiro Yunoki, who has close ties to Matsumoto. More recently, in 2022, Kaiundo opened kissa Senzu at its flagship store, integrating its Japanese and Western confectionery divisions. The café has developed unique menu items, including coffee and smoothies made with red bean broth, as well as gateaux incorporating Shinmito. Today, the company offers more than 100 products each year, including freshly made Japanese and Western sweets, along with over 30 seasonal limited-edition items.
The family philosophy of “First day every day,” passed down from the previous generation, remains central to the company’s values. Overtime work was abolished in the 1980s, and a two-day weekend was introduced in the 1990s. Kaiundo now employs approximately 80 people, and a harmonious, respectful atmosphere pervades the workplace.

• Full Automatic Dorayaki Machine