famous confection; well-known sweet; signature sweet
Refers to a high-quality sweet or confection that is a specialty of a particular region or shop, often given as a souvenir or gift.
This famous confection can only be bought in Kyoto.
お土産に地元の銘菓を買って帰った。
I bought a local specialty sweet as a souvenir to take home.
和菓子 means Japanese-style sweets in general, while 銘菓 emphasizes the fame or brand quality of the sweet.
Standard kanji spelling; 銘 means 'inscribed' or 'established name', 菓 means 'confection'.
Variant spelling using 名 ('famous') instead of 銘; less common but still encountered.
Compound of 銘 (mei, 'inscribed name' or 'established brand') and 菓 (ka, 'confection'). The variant 名菓 uses 名 (mei, 'famous') instead, with the same reading.