Japan Giveaway #1: Bird Cookies! (Hato Sabure)

Posted on by Laura & Brett

I almost gave up on this giveaway because not one of the bird cookies we bought made it home without a crack (which will teach us not to purchase them unless they are packaged in a tin). But, I decided that a cracked bird cookie will still taste as wonderful as one that isn’t, so I decided to go ahead and am offering a gift pack of five of Kamakura’s famous “bird cookies,” Hato Sabure, for my first Japan Giveaway.

In Japanese, hato means pigeon, and sabure is the Japanese pronunciation of sable, a type of French butter cookie. Once only available in Kamakura, today the famous cookies can be found in the food sections of higher-end department stores throughout Japan.

These big, crisp butter cookies are divine (even if they are cracked). They’re perfectly sweet, go wonderfully with coffee or tea, and are great for an afternoon snack, to pack in a lunch for a special treat, or to enjoy any time really. Hato Sabure are one of my favorite reasons to visit Japan.

The giveaway will be open for a week; the latest you can enter is midnight HST, on Wednesday, April 5. A winner will be chosen at random from all entries and announced in the blog on April 6.

Here’s how to enter:

  • Comment on this page. You can comment every day until the giveaway, but just once a day. The more entries you have, the greater your chances of being chosen the winner! I will post the link a couple of extra times during the week. Commenting in another post will not count.
  • Subscribe to “The Occasional Nomads.” If you are already a subscriber, you will receive one extra entry. Please comment below and let me know that you are already a subscriber or that you just joined.
  • Post about the giveaway on your own blog, if you have one, and receive one additional entry.

The winner will be announced in the blog and also notified by email. You must respond by comment to the blog or to the email to receive your bird cookies (I will email you back to find out where to send them). Also, I can only mail to addresses in the U.S. and Canada.

Published by Laura & Brett

Slow traveling the world with a sense of adventure!

44 thoughts on “Japan Giveaway #1: Bird Cookies! (Hato Sabure)”

  1. This is fun! Here’s my one comment to enter the giveaway. I’m already a subscriber (one extra entry, yay!). I’ll post about the giveaway on my own blog in the next couple of days to receive one additional entry.

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  2. Fun giveaway for those of us who followed your Japan trip! I’m already a subscriber. My website is inactive as it was developed for grad school. The bird cookie will be delicious with coffee or hot tea! Thx for this great giveaway! Sonja

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  3. Sounds like something my mother would love. I am already a subscriber and don’t have a blog.

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  4. I want to visit Tokyo now after following your blog posts about it. Adding it to my list…You didn’t mention the dish towel store this time, but I bet you went!?

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  5. Entering your giveaway because, well, who doesn’t like cookies? lol
    I get too much email now so can’t follow you via email….

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  8. I rarely enter contests, but the hato sabure looks yummy! I’ve visited Kamakura, but somehow missed learning about those cookies. Glad you had a great trip!

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  10. Love you blog! We visited Tokyo last December and loved revisiting via your blog. Thanks for the giveaway

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  12. That cookie looks yummy, and I am also subscribed.:-)

    I don’t have a blog or I would share. Cheers!

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  13. Would love to try these. I haven’t been to Japan, but when in Korea, the sweets were RIGHT up my alley.

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  16. What a yummy giveaway! Thank you for thinking of your readers while on vacation 🙂
    Emilee

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  18. My entry for today. One thing I love about Japan is how food souvenirs often feature the local flora, fauna, and culture. Here’s another bird-related food item: In Toyama Prefecture, where the official bird is the rock ptarmigan (raicho), I saw sweets made to look like raicho eggs.

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  29. My entry for the day. BTW, I was delighted to hear that you love Inu Hariko. Those folk toy dogs are a favorite of mine, too. Did you know the Inu Hariko is the mascot of the Edo-Tokyo Museum? (A museum focusing on the history of the city of Tokyo, with fascinating displays.)

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  34. Another day, another entry. One of the things I enjoyed most about Kamakura was the little Enoden electric train line. Wish I’d bought an Enoden souvenirs — like the cute plush train!

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  35. What a nice idea! Would love to try the cookies. If you ever do a giveaway that could magically mail pie from The Right Slice in Lihue count me in!

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  37. I missed Tuesday(oops!)but am back for Wednesday’s last entry. Today is my Hubs birthday…yay him!
    Then it’s off to the grocery and drug store wars….lol

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  44. Wednesday entry. It’s interesting that in Japan you can find certain types of cookies that we don’t often see in the U.S., like sables or, my favorite, langues de chat (“cat’s tongues”).

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