Product Reviews

Since the Japanese confectionery market is always changing, it is extremely hard to keep up with all of the latest releases. As a casual candy and snack fan, you may come across a rare or unusual flavor only to have it disappear from store shelves within weeks or days. That is how fluid the sweet scene is here in Japan. There are regional exclusives, store exclusives, seasonal editions, and even variations on package appearance and size. This can make it overwhelming for the average consumer to select the perfect Japanese snack. At napaJapan we often get requests from our customers...

Ezaki Glico is a giant Japanese food manufacturer that specializes in confectionery, processed foods, and dairy products. Their most internationally famous product is Pocky, a thin cookie stick that is 80% covered in chocolate. Milk chocolate and strawberry are the most common flavors and those are sold worldwide. But when you check out the Pocky line up within Japan you soon realize how many unique flavors, special editions, and formats there are. Every region of Japan has its own specific Pocky flavor! At napaJapan we always carry the latest releases and have a minimum of 12 types available at any given time.  Along...

The Japanese DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Candy Kit boom went global a few years back. There is still so much interest in these cute, detailed, fun, and edible kits that we constantly are getting messages inquiring about new releases. The good news is that the candy kit manufacturers are extremely cutting edge so they introduce new products every few months. You can check out the whole product line-up here. Let's start off with what these things are. In most kits you get a package which contains candy powders, molds, a mixing tray, and a spoon. You only need to supply water and in some instances...

Since 1975, Morinaga's Hi Chew has been pleasing mouths, both young and old. It was created as an alternative to chewing gum as Japanese culture frowned upon removing food from the mouth after beginning to eat. On a consumer level, food is rarely wasted or discarded so there was a market for a candy that had lasting time, yet could also be digested. Even in the early years, tourists would stock up on these popular candy chews. Hi Chew differs from a lot of candy found outside of Japan. It is not so hard on the teeth like a typical chewy caramel. Plus,...

Japanese Cheetos & Doritos If you are a savory snack fan like me, Japan is a perfect place to get your fix. The varieties, flavors, and formats of products is so immense that you could try a different snack every day and never get bored. Whether it is a rice cracker, potato chip, corn chip, shrimp crisp, or pretzel you choose, you will still need to make more decisions on flavor, size, and price. As far as tastes go, there tends to be a lot of flavors found in Japanese cooking ingredients such as Soy Sauce, Wasabi, Yuzu, and Hot Mustard, to name...