Sweets mean different things to different people. Some say such treats are their perfect stress release, while others say they bring back childhood memories — whether the smell of homemade cookies or the chocolate beans they used to pop into their mouths. For artisans and patissiers, though, sweets are what they make a serious career out of, while competing with other professionals to win customers and accolades.

The currently ongoing Zenkoku Kashi Daihakurankai (National Confectionary Exposition), the biggest sweets fair in Japan with a 102-year history, showcases what Japan's ¥3 trillion confectionery industry has to offer. It boasts 6,000 different items on display and some 150 sugar-craft exhibits, including a gigantic, one-15th scale model of the iconic Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima, a small island in the Inland Sea.

The 26th installment of the expo, which takes place in Japan every four or five years and in a different town each time, runs through May 12 in Hiroshima. This is the second time the prefecture has hosted the event, and the first time since 1921. Thus at the expo's Sweets Factory pavilion, the organizer (a consortium of the city and prefectural governments, the prefectural association of sweets makers and local businesses) demonstrates how to make the quintessential Hiroshima snack: momiji manjū.