Fukuroi sweets, Round Table Madeleine Shop

"Shokakko" is a word coined by the author Haruki Murakami. It means a small but certain happiness. My understanding of the word is that a life in which you experience small but certain happiness, such as having a favorite place to go that always makes you feel happy, is better than a life in which you are always looking for something improbably lucky like winning the lottery or doing something that changes the whole world (because those things rarely happen.) I think Round Table is the kind of place that embodies "shokakko." It is a small store and its location is only known to people familiar with it. Every local who loves genuine, delicious food knows this place.
Since 1988, this store has served delicious madeleine sponge cakes that have the power to make people smile. "It is great that Fukuroi has such a store." said a photographer who visits France only to eat bread. Doesn't that make you a little bit jealous?

I always buy a lot of these, but I think, "I should have bought more" after I get home.