A taste of Cornwall winning fans in East Asia

Cornish cream tea is on sale at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan

A baker from Cornwall has introduced the delights of the Cornish cream tea to a new market in Japan.

Ryan Smedley, 44, visited Japan in 2016 for a British pasty-making fair and realised there was a gap in the market for scones.

There are now two branches of his shop Demerara Bakery - one in Tokyo, the other in the city of Nara.

Ayumi Okamura, who works at the bakery, said there had been a "boom" in the popularity of cream teas in Japan.

The scones on offer include Earl Grey and chocolate chip versions

Back at work nearly 6,000m (9,500km) away in his bakery in St Columb, Cornwall, Mr Smedley said he set up the stores to offer Japanese customers a chance to sample afternoon teas.

"It's actually crazy and to be honest it still baffles me to this day," Mr Smedley said.

"Everything is a little bit different over there, the ingredients are a little bit different, butter's really expensive, but [the customers] love the cream, love jam, like sweet things."

Cornwall-based chef Ryan Smedley visited Japan and realised there was a gap in the market for scones

Inside Tokyo's Shinjuku station, the scones at Demerara Bakery are stacked neatly under bright spotlights to catch the eye of the passing commuters.

Ms Okamura said: "You can enjoy scones with clotted cream and jam here just like the ones you would get in the UK.

"There has been a boom in the popularity of afternoon tea recently, especially popular with women."

Ready for rush hour at Shinjuku Station

Ms Okamura said she thought the jam should go on the scone before the cream.

"I recommend that way of eating them since we have our chef Ryan who has come from Cornwall," she said.

The bakeries also sell Rodda's cream, a Cornish clotted cream business.

CEO Nick Rodda said: "Once you try [a cream tea], it is lovely. It's one of those amazing foods which tend to cross different boundaries of different countries.

"I think there's also the Poldark effect, where people go 'ok then, that's in the UK but this is Cornwall'."