The 6th Imo Fes! IN Nagoya Oasis 21 is set for April 25–26, 2026, at Oasis 21 in Nagoya's Higashi-ku. This sweet potato food event has drawn a cumulative audience of over 420,000 visitors primarily across the Tokai region, and the full vendor lineup of 11 shops has now been announced.
Among the highlights are the shop that became the world's first yakiimo (baked sweet potato) establishment to receive a Monde Selection Gold Award, and the winner of the Imo Fes! Grand Prize announced in December 2025.
Admission is free.
Vendor Lineup
1. Ruiida Kitchen — Monde Selection Gold Award Winner; World's First Yakiimo to Receive Monde Selection; Imo Fes! Grand Prize – Best of Show
Ruiida Kitchen is known for its "aged yakiimo," made by letting sweet potatoes rest after harvest so that starches convert into sugars — yielding a remarkably sweet, deep flavor. Their signature "premium baked sweet potato" is crafted using this aging process.
2. Enmusubi — Imo Fes! Grand Prize – Excellence Award, Gold Prize
Enmusubi describes itself as a yakiimo specialty shop "with no fixed menu," always stocking baked sweet potatoes you may never have tried before. On offer will be their "Mitsuro" yakiimo, which carries a year-long reservation wait.
3. oimodo — Imo Fes! Grand Prize Sweets Category – Silver Award
oimodo's most popular item — selling 10,000 units annually — pairs their carefully baked sweet potato with a fully original sweet potato gelato, incorporating the skin for extra depth. They will also offer the "Oimo Tart," a collaboration with popular Shizuoka cake shop Toraya & Café, featuring chunky yakiimo on a crispy pastry shell. It comes individually packaged, making it an easy pick-up souvenir.
4. Joiecrep — Imo Fes! Grand Prize Sweets Category – Grand Prize
Joiecrep's featured item is a sweet potato brûlée crêpe: a batter infused with purple sweet potato powder, filled with whipped cream, Annou-imo sauce, and sweet potato paste — inspired by the look and feel of a baked sweet potato.
5. Hokkori Imo — Sweets Category, Gold Award
A three-layer cake combining cream cheese and sweet potato in a smooth texture, with a cookie crust for contrast. This product won first place in the "souvenir" category at the 2025 Satsuma-imo Expo for two consecutive seasons.
6. IMOBAKKA — Excellence Award, Silver Award
IMOBAKKA is an imo kenpi (sweet potato strip snack) specialty store that draws long lines at sweet potato events across Japan. Their signature wide-cut soft imo kenpi highlights the natural sweetness of the potato, accented with a hint of natural sea salt. Their "gochamamze mix" — a blend of hand-cut thin crispy chips and thicker pieces — attracts customers from as far as Akita in the north and Wakayama in the south. With a one-month shelf life, it works well as a gift or an emergency snack.
7. AMRKEBAB
Kebab
8. Oimoya Noka no Daidokoro
Sweet potatoes are baked slowly on Sakurajima lava stones here, producing a potato with deliciously edible skin. Their salt-baked sweet potato won first place in a nationwide yakiimo competition voted on by 50,000 participants.
9. Imo-An
At Imo-An, sweet potatoes are baked slowly inside traditional clay pots, enhancing their natural sweetness and umami while creating a moist, sticky texture. The shop also offers lightly sweet confections made using the pot-baked sweet potato.
10. Yakiimo Marujun — Event Debut
Yakiimo Marujun has spent 20 years perfecting chilled yakiimo and is recognized as the originator of the chilled baked sweet potato concept. Making its event debut, their latest creation "Fruit Yakiimo" offers the texture of yakiimo with the flavor of fruit — developed over one year in collaboration with a university and a trading company, and claimed to be a world first.
11. KITCHENLAB -Raku-
KITCHENLAB -Raku- offers "Kinmitsuimo," a top-grade variety of Beniharuka sweet potato that is difficult to obtain even among yakiimo specialty shops. Visitors can enjoy the full flavor of Kinmitsuimo on its own, or opt for gelato loaded with the potato and its skin. Exclusive sweets featuring Kinmitsuimo are also available.
Those are the 11 vendors taking part in this edition.
The event has received coverage from multiple media outlets, including a national broadcast segment on NTV's "DayDay." as well as live segments on Chukyo TV's "Zenryaku, Otoku-san" and CBC TV's "Naruhodo Presenter! Hanasaka Times."
Some vendors may sell out early, so arriving promptly is recommended.
Event Details
Event Name: 6th Imo Fes! IN Nagoya Oasis 21
Dates:
- Saturday, April 25, 2026: 10:30 AM–6:30 PM
- Sunday, April 26, 2026: 10:30 AM–6:00 PM
(Event proceeds in light rain)
Venue: Oasis 21, 1-11-1 Higashisakura, Higashi-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi 461-0005 (directly connected to Sakae Subway Station)
Admission: Free
Official Website: https://www.imo-fes.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imofesruiida/
