Carefully pouring together a freshly made white chocolate and raspberry mix into a piping bag, he squeezes the end onto a tray of oblong and white plastic molds. It can be a confectionary preparation but the ultimate truth is, it is KitKat.
Japanese gourmet versions, pioneered by Takagi, compete with a mind-boggling array of mass-produced flavors that border on the weird and the bizarre.
The taste ranges from Wasabi KitKat to lemon vinegar to pumpkin pudding, to green tea, to Shinshu apple or even adzuki bean sandwich.
Born in the Northern City of New York, the KitKat chocolate is unknown to the rest of the world until Nestle bought local manufacturer Rowntree in the 80s.
KitKat's popularity in Japan is quite surprising considering the market's adherence to home-made products. However, the marketing potential of the Western City of Kobe has introduced slick ideas.
The brand may have stuck since it is similar to "Kito Kato," which means "to surely win" in Japanese. After arriving in the land of the rising sun, KitKats have become gifts from parents to their children and among friends. For the chocolate's Marketing Manager in Japan Ryoji Maki, it is simply a manifestation of a "gifting emotion."
For Mike Fahey, an East Coast Associate Editor for a video game website named Kotaku, the experiences in tasting different KitKat flavors have been introduced in his Snacktaku review.
He has been badgering Kotaku's Japanese editor Brian Ashcraft for batches of Nestle's Nipponese chocolate-dipped wafers. It has resulted in the addition of Japanese KitKats in the top five of his must-eat list.
The Japanese market has embraced KitKat ever since it entered the country in 1973. It is one of the top-selling chocolate brands in that region.
Starting off with the "kitto katsu" stroke of luck, the product's success is clearly tied to the country's penchant for around 300 weird and wonderful flavors which Takagi has pioneered.
