Introduction – Japanese Candy

While in Japan, I bought a bunch of really cool, unique Japanese candy. There is such a wide variety of different sweets that I just had to get them all. Today, I try a bunch of  them. I hope you enjoy this little video review.

The Video

Sit back and enjoy:

The Candy

#1 Matcha Popcorn

I start things off with this amazing matcha popcorn from a local tea shop in Takayama. There are a wide variety of different tea popcorns at the store, like Nihon-cha and Houjicha, although I went for the classic, matcha.

The popcorn has a strong matcha aroma, although it doesn’t have the usual bitterness that is associated with matcha and is quite sweet. The popcorn is quite soft as well, and doesn’t really crunch.

The packaging is really beautiful and is well suited to being given as a gift or souvenir.

#2 Gudetama Candy

These Gudetama sweets are from the 100¥ store CAN DO. I purchased this mostly for its packaging, which is also the highlight of the sweet as the flavour itself isn’t anything impressive – your standard run-of-the-mill hard candy.

The flavours are cola, cider and grape. The cider tastes like the soft drink called cider in Japan, and not what most Europeans would associate the name with. My personal favourite is the grape candy, as I just love the strong Japanese grape flavour, as you will see in a bit.

#3 Pocky Squeeze – Grape

When thinking of Japanese candy or sweets in general, Pocky sticks often come to mind. These special pocky are filled with extra grape flavour and are a lot shorter than the usual Pocky sticks.

These Pocky are full of flavour and a bit more ‘exciting’ than the regular chocolate Pocky, although you can never go wrong with a classic.

I’m not convinced with the grape in the middle of the stick, as the coating on the outside seems to suffice, but it wasn’t bad either.

Overall I really enjoyed these sweets.

#4 Matcha Kit Kats

Speaking of classics, this is probably the nr.1 ‘Japanese’ sweet that people bring back as a souvenir. You can find them everywhere in Japan, and there are so many different flavours available. There are over 300 different flavours, including a bunch of seasonal and limited-edition ones.

The matcha Kit Kats are less sweet than you might be expecting, but they still aren’t as bitter as most traditional matcha deserts found in Japan. They taste nice, although the matcha flavour isn’t too intense.

You can find the matcha Kit Kats at most Japanese convenience stores and supermarkets.

#5 Sumikko Gurashi Candy

This is another bag of candy I bought at the 100¥ store CAN DO. Similar to the Gudetama candy, the packaging on these is the highlight. Each individually wrapped sweet has adorable characters on it and it’s just really aesthetic overall.

These actually taste better than the Gudetama ones, the flavours being yogurt, peach yogurt and muscat grape yogurt. I accidentally said muscat nut in the video, but they are clearly grape. I love how the shape is that of a heart, it’s really pretty!

Wrap-Up

And that’s all I have time for today, I hope you enjoyed this little video + blog post. If you enjoyed this, make sure to leave a comment down below and make sure to subscribe to my Youtube channel for more videos every week. I will be a lot more active on Youtube in the near future!

My latest blog post: How I studied Japanese
Something you may like: A Guide to Giving Gifts in Japan

Until then,
Send a postcard,
Yona