Japanese confectionary has two distinct lineages, wagashi which are the traditional Japanese sweets produced without sugar or chocolate, and modern confectionary which is western-influenced.

Personally I dislike wagashi (mostly) but love modern Japanese sweets, because it feels like they've taken famous desserts from around the world and made them just that little bit lighter and airier, which is very much to my taste.

It sounds like you've only tried the baked goods from the konbini. Yeah, Famima baumkuchen is gonna require a beverage to help it go down.

But go to an actual bake shop in Japan, and they take as much pride in their craft as anyone else in Japan. There's a reason the Japanese have earned a reputation for excellence.

Also, while you're correct about Japanese desserts being less sweet, that's part of the reason I like it. It isn't as nauseatingly sweet as the stuff in the US, which loads everything with sugar. Japanese cuisine in general is about subtle, delicate, balanced flavors, not overpowering your taste buds.

Even in Europe, desserts are more balanced. In America, it's like you'd think the sugar lobby was entrenched in politics or something, with how ubiquitously everything is over-sugared.

Do the pancakes count? Because they have the beat pancakes in the world.