Mexican Beans and Root Beer? 10 Foods The Japanese Hate!

There are plenty of foods you or I might dislike, but sometimes our tastes are determined by our culture. In this post, let’s explore 11 foods the Japanese hate, and what they reveal about Japan!

Great news! J-List is having a $40-off-$200-or-more holiday coupon you can use for all in-stock items shipping from Japan! (Except calendars and Lucky Boxes.) This means you can make a big order of ecchi products for men, manga and doujinshi, JAV DVDs and Blu-rays, or hentai products and save big. Start browsing here!

Foods the Japanese Dislike on a Cultural Level

Let’s explore some famous flavors the Japanese dislike for one reason or another!

The Japanese have a strong dislike for root beer [Yuru Yuri]

The Japanese Nearly Always Hate Root Beer

Japanese people generally hate root beer because it reminds them of Salonpas, a patch that relieves muscle aches. They also disliked Dr. Pepper because it has a similar strong taste, but Steins;Gate made it popular. These days, they stock Dr. Pepper at our local Japanese Costco.

But what about Okinawa, the Japanese prefecture that spent 25 years as a US territory after World War II? They positively love root beer, and there are more A&W restaurants there than McDonald’s. Love or hatred of root beer is often used for comedic effect in shows like A Sister’s All You Need and Yuru Yuri.

The Japanese like tacos… but never with refried beans [Saki]

Another Food the Japanese Hate: Mexican Beans

Before J-List and JAST USA started working with Nitroplus, one of their staff members visited our booth at the San Diego Comic Con to get a feel for our company. I took him out for Mexican food, and fortunately had the foresight to ask for his refried beans on the side. I did this because I knew Japanese usually hate Mexican beans, unless they’ve lived in California for a few years.

They have tacos here in Japan, but no Mexican food containing refried beans. By the way, you always use ‘tacos’ in Japanese, even when referring to a single taco. This is to avoid confusion with tako (octopus).

Why is it easy for Spanish speakers to speak Japanese with no accent? Read my blog post here!

How Do You Feel About Black Licorice?

Another flavor the Japanese do not love is traditional black licorice. I personally love it, and buy it if I find it while abroad. But it’s like Kryptonite to the Japanese. (Image source.)

Choco Mint Flavored Ice Cream

I’m a fan of chocolate mint as a flavor, and I loved Uzaki-chan’s rant on the subject. As a rule, if you are seen eating chocolate mint ice cream, the Japanese will look at you as if you’re crazy.

The Japanese Aren’t Fans of Sweetened Tea

If you visit a Japanese convenience store, you’ll see 30+ varieties of bottled ice tea — green tea, roasted houji-cha, Chinese Oolong or Jasmine, Earl Grey black tea, I could go on and on. There are one or two sweetened teas (like Afternoon Tea by Kirin), plus Coca-Cola, but 95% of drinks sold in stores are sugar-free.

The situation is reversed for Japanese who visit the US, where 90% of drinks are sweetened, either with sugar or artificial sweeteners. They either have to hope for unsweetened iced tea or stick to water.

What are some famous “Japanese” foods with surprising histories? Read this post next!

Okayu is for when you’re sick [New Game!]

Japanese Have a Cultural Distrust of Oatmeal

Oatmeal is one of my favorite foods, and there’s nothing like eating a bowl of hot oatmeal on a cold winter morning. My wife thought I was crazy at first, because it looked too much like okayu to her. This is a rice porridge given to sick people, which often appears in anime.

A spicy moment from Food Wars

More Foods Japanese Dislike: Spicy Dishes

The Japanese are wimps when it comes to eating spicy foods. They eat Indian and Thai curry and Korean kimchee, but the spiciness of these foods are greatly toned down for local tastes.

The Japanese sadly are not great connoisiours of cheese

The Japanese Don’t Understand Proper Cheese

Japan is a great country, but the cheese here leaves a lot to be desired. There are basically two kinds sold in the supermarket: yellow processed cheese (for sandwiches) and white processed cheese (for pizza toast).

The Japanese like lager beer, rarely IPAs

Hoppy IPAs

I’m lucky to be from San Diego for several reasons, one of which is the importance of the San Diego Comic Con to J-List over the years. But being a beer lover, it’s been great to see my home city become one of the most important cities when it comes to craft beer, especially West Coast IPAs. The Japanese, sadly, haven’t acquired this particular taste in beers, so most beers you find here are basic lagers.

Celery with Peanut Butter

Apparently, celery is the most disliked vegetable in Japan. But since they sell huge bags of it at our Japanese Costco, I can’t resist picking some up to munch on (with peanut butter!) while watching anime.

Thanks for reading this blog post about 11 foods Japanese people dislike. Got any more topics you’d like us to write about? Tell us in the comments below!

Let’s Chat

You made it to the end of this post! Thank you! As a token of our appreciation, enjoy an extra 5% off your next order when you use the code BLOG at checkout. Also, don’t forget to follow J-List on all our platforms!