Papiru: cakes and tea in Shiraho

Why we still return

We genuinely like Papiru’s cakes. When beni-imo cakes are available, those are a particular treat. The cream is fresh, real whipped cream rather than something overly sweet or heavy.

The shop uses local ingredients where that makes sense, and fresh ingredients from elsewhere in Japan where it does not. That is a practical, unpretentious approach which suits the cakes.

We also order birthday cakes here. Papiru has made cakes personalised with names and small details for our family celebrations, which is one reason it has remained part of our island life.

The cakes change with the season

There is no fixed list worth memorising. Fruit cakes follow what is good at the time, so the counter changes through the year. Papiru also describes using Ishigaki milk and eggs, Hateruma brown sugar, Yotsuba butter and seasonal fruit in its baking.

For a celebration cake, it is best to ask Papiru directly about the current choice and reservation arrangements.

The old Papiru house

Our earliest memories are of Papiru’s former home: a red-tiled house in Shiraho, with a tatami room and the comfortable sense that family life continued around the café. Children played in the house, and sometimes you could hear them from the other rooms. It felt lived in, not staged.

We especially remember the old sliding doors. They were decorated with birds that I remember as possibly cranes, though I have not been able to confirm that detail. The memory belongs to the old house, not the present shop.

Papiru and Shiraho

Papiru says the shop took its name from Papiru-bushi, a Hōnensai dance representing butterflies pollinating flowers.

Papiru today

Papiru moved from the old house to its present nearby Shiraho location in 2018. There is still Japanese-room seating, and in our experience it remains an easy place to visit with children.

For the current address, opening arrangement, cake selection and reservations, see Papiru’s official site.