One fun aspect of living in Japan is visiting convenience stores and seeing what new snacks have been released. While some American products like Wrigley’s gum, Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper and have been around for a century or more, Japanese consumers generally favor new products when they shop, forcing manufacturers to come up with fresh ideas at a faster pace. There are some old standbys that never change, of course — Kompeito, Peko-chan Milk Candy, or that bizarrely-named homogenized fish sausage — but in general you can be sure you’ll see something new every time you go into a store. Like tasty Okonomiyaki Pretz stick snacks, Japanese Cheetos in bizarre flavors, and a whole line of Popin’ Cookin’ gummy treats you make yourself. Of course J-List has a huge selection of Japanese snacks, if you’re curious to browse. You might start by checking our most popular Japanese snacks by sales ranking, or else sort by “wishlist” popularity ranking. Warning, browsing J-List’s snack page might make you hungry.
It’s fun to surf Japan’s “snack culture” in conveience stores.
