Japanese Food Souvenirs at KUZE FUKU & Co. (Kuze Fuku Shoten) | 万能だし (All-Purpose Dashi), Miso, Soy Sauce, Rice Toppings, お吸い物最中 (Clear Soup Monaka) and Japanese Sweets, Stores in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Sapporo and Nagoya, Tax-Free, Tips for Taking Them Home

Overview

KUZE FUKU & Co. (Kuze Fuku Shoten) is a food store that sells Japanese dashi (soup stock), seasonings, rice toppings, sweets and more. It is run by St.Cousair Co., Ltd., which has its head office in Iizuna Town, Nagano Prefecture. According to the KUZE FUKU & Co. website, the products in its stores are made together with producers in various parts of Japan. The same website describes the beginnings of KUZE FUKU & Co. as a food store that the merchant Fukumatsu Kuze opened in Higashi-Ikebukuro, Tokyo, in 1934. Based on official information from KUZE FUKU & Co. and St.Cousair (checked on October 19, 2026), this article explains what travelers should know when buying Japanese food as souvenirs at KUZE FUKU & Co.

• You can buy dashi, miso, soy sauce, rice toppings and sweets all in one store. Many of the products sold are KUZE FUKU & Co.'s own products, with "久世福商店" written on the package.
• The stores are located inside department stores, inside shopping centers, in underground shopping streets near stations and in other places. According to a St.Cousair news release (October 7, 2026), there are about 180 KUZE FUKU & Co. and St.Cousair stores in total across Japan. As of October 19, 2026, there is no KUZE FUKU & Co. store inside an airport.
• The KUZE FUKU & Co. store search page lists drink tasting and food sampling as store services. However, availability varies by store.
• The KUZE FUKU & Co. official website has no information about tax-free procedures. In some cases, KUZE FUKU & Co. is listed as one of the stores covered by a shopping center's tax-free counter. Details are in the "Conditions" section of this article.

What to buy

Photos of the store sections

The photos in this article were taken by the operator of this site at a KUZE FUKU & Co. store in October 2026. Not every store has the same products. The price tags in the photos show the prices at the time the photos were taken. The prices in this article are those of the KUZE FUKU & Co. official online shop (checked on October 19, 2026). They may not be the same as the prices in stores.

• Above the store entrance, there is a sign reading "久世福商店" and "KUZE FUKU & Co.". At the back of the store, signs with the names of the sections, such as "漬物" (pickles) and "だし" (dashi), are lined up on top of the shelves.

Dashi

• KUZE FUKU & Co.'s signature product is "万能だし" (all-purpose dashi). It is a dashi pack made with dried bonito flakes, dried mackerel flakes, dried sardines, kelp, grilled flying fish and other ingredients, and one pack weighs 8g.
• In the official recipe, you put one pack in water to make dashi. The product page says you can also tear open the pack and use the powder inside as a seasoning.
• There is also a powdered dashi, "粉末万能だし" (powdered all-purpose dashi).

Miso soup and clear soup

• Freeze-dried miso soup is ready to eat when you put the contents in a bowl, pour in hot water and stir. "毎日だしのお味噌汁 国産あおさと備州白味噌" (everyday dashi miso soup with Japanese aosa seaweed and Bishu white miso) costs ¥255 (tax included) for one serving and ¥1,263 (tax included) for a bag of 5 servings. Its best-before period from the date of manufacture is 450 days.
• The section in the photo also had boxes of assorted miso soups and soups in various flavors (at the time of the photo).

• "お吸い物最中" is a product in which dried clear soup ingredients and seasoning are put inside a monaka shell made from glutinous rice (monaka is a Japanese confection). The product page explains that if you break the monaka in half in a bowl and pour in hot water, it becomes clear soup.
• お吸い物最中 costs ¥331 (tax included) each, ¥2,450 (tax included) for an assorted box with one of each of 6 flavors and ¥3,400 (tax included) for an assorted box of 9 pieces. Its best-before period from the date of manufacture is 210 days.
• The section in the photo had pink and white お吸い物最中 and assorted boxes with a "季節限定" (seasonal limited edition) tag (at the time of the photo). On the lower shelf were "だし雑炊" (dashi rice porridge) and "だし茶漬け" (dashi chazuke, rice with dashi poured over it), which you make by pouring in hot water.

Rice toppings

• "ご飯のお供" (rice toppings) are strongly flavored side dishes eaten on top of plain cooked rice. They include salmon flakes in jars, nametake (mushrooms simmered with seasoning) and nori tsukudani (simmered nori seaweed).
• The store where the photos were taken had a handwritten sign ranking popular items. No. 1 was "大人のしゃけしゃけめんたい" (salmon flakes with mentaiko for adults), and No. 2 was "七味なめ茸" (nametake with shichimi spice) (at the time of the photo).
• Separately from that sign, the official online shop has its own weekly ranking. When checked on October 19, 2026, No. 1 was the large jar of "大人のしゃけしゃけめんたい", No. 2 was the small jar of the same product, and No. 3 was "七味なめ茸".
• "大人のしゃけしゃけめんたい" is salmon flakes combined with spicy mentaiko (seasoned pollock roe). The small jar costs ¥646 (tax included) and the large jar ¥955 (tax included). "七味なめ茸" costs ¥430 (tax included).

Miso, soy sauce and seasonings

• The seasoning section has a sign for each type, such as "醤油" (soy sauce) and "塩・砂糖 酢・タレ" (salt and sugar, vinegar and sauces).
• "久世福の信州味噌 三原屋" (Kuze Fuku's Shinshu miso, Miharaya) is a red-colored miso made at a miso brewery in Nagano City, and it costs ¥792 (tax included). "おかず味噌 国産九条ねぎ" (okazu miso with Japanese Kujo green onion), a miso for eating with rice, costs ¥615 (tax included).
• "究極の醤油" (ultimate soy sauce) comes in 720ml bottles and costs ¥1,022 (tax included). "久世福の白だし" (Kuze Fuku's shiro dashi), a liquid seasoning flavored with dashi, comes in 300ml bottles and costs ¥799 (tax included).
• In the soy sauce section of the store where the photos were taken, the tag for "純米本みりん" (pure rice hon-mirin) said "これはお酒です" (this is alcohol). Hon-mirin is a type of alcohol used in cooking. A sign in the store said that alcohol is not sold if the customer's age cannot be confirmed.

Sweets

The sweets section of the store where the photos were taken had products like the following (at the time of the photo). Each is a separate product.

• Baked sweets in boxes reading "KUZE FUKU & Co."
• Jam in jars. There was jam made from "七福芋" (Shichifuku imo), a type of sweet potato, and jam made from purple sweet potato.
• Baked sweets in bags.

Here are some examples of sweets and snacks from the official online shop.

• The price of "あんバター" is for the small jar.

Where to buy

Stores that are easy for travelers to visit

These are some of the stores, checked in the KUZE FUKU & Co. store search on October 19, 2026.

• The floor numbers are the same as the building's signs. The ground floor is 1F. "B1F" means the first basement floor, and "B2F" the second basement floor.
• The opening hours of the stores in the table are the same on every day of the week, except at the Ikebukuro Shopping Park store.
• As of October 19, 2026, the store search lists no stores in the following places: Tokyo Station, Ginza, Nihonbashi, Shibuya and Asakusa; Haneda Airport, Narita Airport and Kansai International Airport; Kyoto Station; Hakata Station and Tenjin; Nagoya Station and Sakae.

Finding a store

• In the store search (店舗検索) of the KUZE FUKU & Co. official online shop (in Japanese), you can see the address and opening hours of each store.
• On days when the opening hours of the building the store is in change, the store's opening hours may also change. Before you go, also check the building's information.

Checkout and store

• The photo shows the checkout at the store where the photos were taken. Products were also lined up on the checkout counter.
• Besides drink tasting and food sampling, the store search page lists a service that puts together a gift from products you choose, and a service in which store staff guide you through the products. Availability of each service varies by store.
• At the store where the photos were taken, the price tags for the assorted boxes said "紙手提げ無料" (free paper bag). It means "if you buy that box, a paper carrier bag comes with it free of charge" (at the time of the photo).
• The payment methods accepted in stores are not stated on the KUZE FUKU & Co. official website. If you want to pay by credit card, or with a QR code or barcode in a smartphone app, check at the checkout whether it is accepted. How to use cash and cards in Japan is explained in Do You Need Cash in Japan? | Where Cards Work, ATMs That Accept Overseas Cards, and Currency Exchange.

Conditions

Stores where you can shop tax-free

The official websites of KUZE FUKU & Co. and St.Cousair have no information about tax-free procedures (checked on October 19, 2026).

In some shopping centers, the tax-free procedures for purchases made at several stores in the facility are handled together at the facility's tax-free counter. The following two are examples where the facility's official information lists KUZE FUKU & Co. among the stores covered by its tax-free counter.

• LaLaport Fukuoka: According to the information as of September 15, 2026, the KUZE FUKU & Co. store on 1F is covered.
• LaLaport NAGOYA minato AQULS: According to the information as of October 1, 2026, the KUZE FUKU & Co. store on 1F is covered. The tax-free counter accepts customers until 19:45 on weekdays and until 20:45 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

Both facilities state that the covered stores may change. For KUZE FUKU & Co. stores outside these two facilities, ask the store staff whether tax-free shopping is available before you buy.

Changes from November 1, 2026

Japan's tax-free system changed on November 1, 2026 (Japan Tourism Agency information).

• For purchases made on or after November 1, 2026, you pay the price including consumption tax at the store. When you leave Japan, the consumption tax amount is refunded after customs checks your purchases at the airport or seaport. To receive the refund, you must leave Japan within 90 days of the purchase date and have customs check your purchases when you leave.
• According to the Japan Tourism Agency, from November 1, 2026, purchases totaling ¥5,000 (tax excluded) or more at the same store on the same day are eligible for tax exemption.
• According to the Japan Tourism Agency, if consumables such as food are eaten or used in Japan, you cannot receive the refund. Food bought tax-free must be taken out of Japan without being eaten.

The tax-free conditions and the procedure when you leave Japan are explained in Tax-Free Shopping in Japan | The Refund Method from November 2026 and What to Do When You Leave Japan.

Good to know

Taking items home by plane

• Liquid seasonings such as soy sauce, shiro dashi and hon-mirin are subject to limits on the amount you can bring into the aircraft cabin. Check the limits in the information from the airport and the airline.
• Bottles can break. Wrap them in clothes or similar before putting them in your suitcase.
• How to send large luggage to the airport or a hotel is explained in Send Your Suitcase by Courier | Airport to Accommodation, Accommodation to Airport (Yamato Transport).

Bringing items into your own country

• Some countries may not allow you to bring in foods that contain meat or meat extract, or processed fish products. Before you buy, check the rules of the country you are returning to.
• The ingredients are written on the package in Japanese. The product pages of the KUZE FUKU & Co. official online shop also list the ingredients in Japanese.
• For example, the ingredients of 万能だし include items made from fish, such as dried bonito flakes and dried mackerel flakes. The ingredients of the "たまごスープ" (egg soup) flavor of お吸い物最中 include pork and chicken.

Best-before dates

• Packages have a date labeled "賞味期限" (best before) in Japanese. It is the date until which the food can be enjoyed at its best.
• The best-before period from the date of manufacture differs by product. In the tables in this article, 万能だし has a best-before period of 450 days regardless of the number of packs. やみつき柿の種 has 90 days, which is shorter than 万能だし.

Buying and shipping from outside Japan

• The KUZE FUKU & Co. official online shop does not ship products outside Japan.
• The KUZE FUKU & Co. website has a link to an online store in the United States. That store sells products from St.Cousair's brands.

Returns and inquiries

• The rules for returning and exchanging items bought in stores are not stated on the KUZE FUKU & Co. official website. If you want to return or exchange an item, take the receipt and the item to the store where you bought it and ask there.
• The KUZE FUKU & Co. website and official online shop are in Japanese only (checked on October 19, 2026).