These snacks were purchased from the A Dong Supermarket in West Hartford, CT. Each of the 12 snacks have been categorized by their taste: salty, sweet, and candy. We ate the snacks together and typed our opinions and observations and then discussed to preserve our individual impressions and then learn from the other person’s perspective. After our discussions we conducted some research together, looking at and sharing sources that we found interesting, after which we individually wrote reflections amassing what we had learned and what we took away from our project.
Savory Snacks
Calbee JagaRico Original Potato Snack
Pretaste: The packaging is creative with a giraffe character on the front and the back and even the barcode on the back is made into a table with giraffe eating on it, there was clearly a lot of effort that went into the design. In the center are images of potatoes that are very prominent and look enticing, well cooked and buttered. The giraffe character is depicted eating a stick which makes the snack seem like it is for a younger audience. It also is resealable so there is a prioritization on keeping this “fresh” and on nutritional value since the “secret” they are letting us in on is that pairing of potatoes with carrots and parsley, which they even show with pictures. It says on the back: it is a potato and carrots and parsley implying the snack is healthy “Hearty potatoes” with “real bits of carrots and parsley.” Because of the nutrition fact labelling, it is obviously packaged for export to the USA, so to what extent this English phrasing is original to the Japanese packaging.
Sophie: The bag contains, what I would consider a single serving, of small cylindrical potato sticks. The sticks have little bits of orange and green pieces, the “real bits of carrots and parsley.” The sticks are very crispy and airy. The aftertaste is not very strong though the real potato flavor definitely comes through and gets stuck in my teeth just like potato chips do. The short “bite-size” length of each stick makes this snack very easy to eat and again makes me think these are designed for a younger audience.
Emily: These remind me of veggie straws. They are bite sized and very crunchy; I could definitely finish the bag without realizing it. I don’t really taste the carrot or parsley, mainly the potato which is probably the point, to include a vegetable but not have the snack taste like the vegetable, but I think they look nice with the orange and green pieces baked into the straw clearly indicating that there is carrot and parsley in the recipe.
Calbee JagaRico Sukiyaki Potato Snack
Pretaste: This package is quite similar to the original flavor potato snack so consumers would know just with a glance that these two products are similar with a few notable differences such as the change in coloring to orange and black which goes with the color of the flavoring. There is a giant potato on the front again, but there is also an image of the dish — sukiyaki (a kind of beef stew often cooked at the dinner table — the snack is flavored after. The giraffe on this package is wearing a kimono and has a more Japanese appearance than the original which might coincide with how the flavor is similar to the “popular Japanese dish,” sukiyaki. The repetitive advertisement of the sukiyaki dish almost implies that this snack could be a meal substitute or supplement. There is also the focus on “crunch” and texture.
Emily: These taste like beef broth to me, I definitely feel like it is emulating a “hearty” meal. It reminds me of BBQ flavored American snacks, but in America snacks such as Lays BBQ chips are definitely not trying to say that they are healthy or that they could be replacing or supplementing a meal, it’s just the flavoring. Also they definitely crunch, I could hear Sophie crunch into the snack. It is really interesting that the giraffe for the Sukiyaki flavor is wearing a Japanese outfit while the Original flavor has a more Western style garment, perhaps this is playing to flavor associations and assumed identity choices that people are making when buying one flavor or the other.
Sophie: These are much less salty than I anticipated. The aftertaste is much stronger than in the original flavor and tastes like buttery potato and some meaty flavor (I don’t think I’ve tried sukiyaki before so I’m not sure what that tastes like). I’m not sure I like the aftertaste. Like Emily said, the crunch is quite loud, I wouldn’t want to eat these in a quieter public area!
BABY STAR Crispy Ramen Tonkotsu Flavor Snack
Pretaste: The packaging is a bright yellow, eye-grabbing color and there are two characters on the front who look like they might be dancing. The back reads: No need to COOK, ready to EAT! in English, to highlight how the product is an enticing and quick snack to eat. There are two characters who are on the front and back that are cute and dressed in different style clothing, one in western appearing (alien?) attire and one in stereotypical Chinese clothing. They are cute and indicate that the product is likely meant for children.
Sophie: This snack was clearly made from broken up dried instant ramen noodles. The flavor is excellent and just what I imagine dried instant ramen noodles with the flavor packet sprinkled in taste like. I almost want to pour them into a bowl and eat them with a spoon. The salty tonkotsu flavor is lovely.
Emily: The crispy ramen snacks are really tiny, crunchy, and noodlesque. You can hear them swoosh down the bag when pouring them out onto your hand and the crunch is really nice. The size also makes you think that you could eat a million of them since they are so tiny.
Sweet Snacks
Nestle Matcha KitKat
Pretaste: The bag has a matte green colored packaging to mirror the green of matcha, the flavoring of the candy. The candy is a Nestle product, which is a Swiss company, but the flavor is branded as Japanese. The product is definitely catering to an adult audience with its more sophisticated color scheme and the phrase “adult sweetness” written in large font on the front of the package. Bubbly, fresh matcha tea and leaves on the front make the product seem just made and the font on packaging looks fancy. The packaging tells consumers the best way to eat the product, which in the summer is to freeze them and eat them cold and encourages this with arctic animals and ice cubes on the back. The English motto written on each individual KitKat package “have a break, have a KitKat”, and the individual packaging is more standard to what KitKat look like in the US, a simple and shiny green wrapper.
Emily: I think they look good, I have never eaten green chocolate candy before and I am not sure if the color would be considered attractive for a matcha-flavored candy. The matcha flavor is quite overpowering, there is still the traditional KitKat “crunch” and wafer to chocolate ratio so the only difference really is the flavor. I think that the matcha kit kat might be my least favorite flavor from the brand and I wonder what someone who likes matcha would think of this.
Sophie: The wafers are covered with the green matcha shell. They have small specs of darker green matcha powder. They are much less sweet than I expected, in fact the flavor is pretty bitter. The matcha flavor is a bit overwhelming for what I am used to but it tastes much less artificial than I was expecting. I enjoy the way the matcha flavor stays in my mouth, it almost feels like it cleaned my teeth and breath.
Picola Setouchi Lemon Egg Rolls
Pretaste: The packaging is a bright, pastel yellow and blue that catches your attention, and the lemon egg rolls are featured. Images of lemons run along the bottom right side and an attractive, realistic image of a lemon with green leaves and writing highlights the flavor and implies freshness. The box reports that the lemon flavor comes from Setouchi (Hiroshima Prefecture). The highlight of regional flavors makes the snack more appealing and unique. Another special feature is the way the box has two openings that can be created for your phone and your snack, making it ideal for a little break perhaps at your desk when working.
Sophie: This snack reminds me of what I would expect the lemon version of Pirouline wafer sticks to taste and look like. They are very attractive and the packaging looks similar to Pocky. The lemon flavor is mild but is perfect for my taste; there is an almost cheesy flavor that comes through. I would have expected the lemon flavor to taste more artificial based on the packaging. These cookies feel more delicate and fancy than the others so far. When we set up the phone stand and snack stand, it reminded me of the cardboard snack holders you can get at movie theaters with different compartments. The snack holder is creative but I don’t think it is really functional, I can’t imagine someone actually using it.
Emily: I think the yellow and white twist pattern is really pretty, especially with the subtle indentations. The lemon flavor is subtle, but nice, although I actually think it tasted a bit artificial and there was a sweet taste that lingered in the mouth. I liked the crispness and how quiet eating them was. When we put the phone in on the stand it looked like it would be a nice snack break from work, I feel like this caters more towards adults than children. I agree with Sophie though that I’m not really sure if the design of the box would be taken advantage of by most consumers.
Calcuits Milk Biscuit
Pretaste: The biscuits come in a box which heavily features imagery and language about the snack’s nutritional value. There is a large image of a milk bottle with a cow on it to represent the calcium along with other vitamins that are in the cookies. On the back the box shows that there is the calcium equivalent of four and a half cups of milk, and also compares the iron, B1, and B2 levels to those of spinach and meat. On the back there is another cow with a baby sucking on its udder. The box also highlights the region that the snack is from, the milk is from Hokkaido and there is a visual of the region on the front of the box, likely to highlight the quality of ingredients from their origin in Hokkaido.
Emily: The biscuits are very simple and have nothing on them other than ten dot indentations and some writing. I thought they reminded me of sweet tea biscuits, or something you could get in England. They were sweeter than I was expecting. I liked them and would eat them but I have a hard time believing they have all the health benefits that the box says that they do.
Sophie: These remind me of vanilla wafers, they are like little buttery biscuits. They are simple in flavor and design and small in size–practically bite sized! The portion in the box is also relatively small (compared to a container American cookies would come in). I expected the cookies to taste more “milky” (whatever that means) based on the prevalence of milk pictures on the box and the advertisement of calcium. I really enjoy the simple sweetness of these cookies, I keep coming back for more.
Lotte Koala No March Chocolate Biscuits
Pretaste: This chocolate biscuit snack is centered around koalas as a motif for the snack. The box is a really cool hexagonal shape that almost mimics the image of the tree that the koalas are climbing on the packaging. The box shows off some of the different koalas that you could eat in the box since the little biscuit filled chocolates are in koala shapes with images on them such as a koala tripping over a banana peel or learning digits of pi. The snack is clearly catered towards children and there are hundreds of different designs so you could imagine children getting these and eating them together and comparing the different koalas (like we did). The box even has a little tab which helps you reclose it.
Sophie: These cookies remind me of graham crackers. They have a very playful vibe between the geometric box and the koala drawings on the snack. I felt happy when I opened these up. The koala shapes are fun to hold in my hand. The outer cookie is very thin and crisp and the interior contains much less chocolate than is shown on the packaging, there is actually a lot of air inside. The flavor is not too sweet.
Emily: I love these, they remind me of the snacks that my piano teacher would give us after concerts. I think that the little images on the koala bears are so cute and I want to eat the whole box to look at each different image. I especially like the one where he is riding a motorcycle. The taste is not super original, it’s chocolate in a basic biscuit shell. It is sweet and clearly catered towards children.
Marukyo Manju Sweet Assortment
Pretaste: This sweets assortment is in a clear packaging that allows the consumer to see the different individually packaged sweets that they are buying and the “5 kinds of deliciousness” or five types of Manju cakes in the package. Inside there is a tray that keeps all the cakes organized and looking aesthetic, it allows a consumer to bring it somewhere and then pull it out to serve and there is an image of serving them together on a plate on the front of the packaging. It also shows all the different flavors (matcha, red and white bean, milk flavor, chestnut) and how the cakes look inside. This packaging is clearly geared towards adults with the organized, individually wrapped cakes, and depictions of the flavor profiles. However, it is definitely not a really expensive or high-end looking gift
Emily: These are quite a contrast from some of the other snacks we have been eating because they are so soft. They make no sound when you bite into them and the packaging of each little cake is easy to open. I did not know what flavor I was eating, I believe I tried white bean and chestnut after consulting the flavor options, but I really could not tell the difference between the two. I think the diversity in sizes and styles of the cakes is a smart choice, it makes the tray seem more exciting and varied. I feel compelled to try one of each and I would bring this on a picnic or some social gathering if I was supposed to bring snacks or a dessert for the event.
Sophie: I love the way these cakes are packaged, the methodical organization reminds me a bit of a bento box. The individual cakes are wrapped nicely with fancy looking wrappers. The treats are very powdery, soft, and dry. It is hard to discern which cake is which. I think I tried the milk flavor and the matcha flavor. I enjoyed the milk flavor even though the only words I can think of to describe it are dry and bland! I like the chewiness of the cakes. The matcha cake flavor was not my cup of tea. I am noticing that the matcha flavored snacks are a bit too bitter for my liking. I don’t like the way the matcha cake sits in my mouth, the sweetness hangs around and the powder-iness stays in my teeth.
Candies
Sakuma’s Drops
Pretaste: This candy is packaged unlike any other, in a tin! The imagery is simple, featuring images of the candies and the fruits that they are flavored with. On the top of the tin is an aluminum foil that reports that the candy has been made since 1908 (the Meiji period) and when you pull it away the impressions of Japanese characters are left behind which is super cool for such an old looking container. In order to open the tin, you have to pop off the metal plug. It was impossible to open with fingers so we had to recruit a pair of scissors!
Sophie: The experience of trying to get this container open was quite something. It felt like we were digging for treasure. It also (maybe weirdly) made me feel like we were in war time, eating canned foods. The first flavor I got was the yellow lemon candy. There is a powdery outer coating followed by a simple smooth and sweet hard candy with prominent lemon flavor. Eating candy out of a tin like this feels so old fashioned. I am wondering why this company decided to keep the original packaging since 1908. I am also curious as to why the company chose candy flavors that are also common in the US–aren’t there Japanese fruits that could serve the same purpose?
Emily: I got a purplish/reddish colored hard candy. It tastes quite artificial but very yummy and I think that the flavor is raspberry but I am not sure (update: sophie thinks the flavor is grape because she read the possible flavors on the tin and raspberry is not one of them). The candy has wavy line indentations which make it more unique than some of the other candies we have had, other than the soda kids candies which were in the shape of the little characters. There are a few different flavor shapes which is interesting, especially since a shape does not correspond to a specific flavor, each flavor could be in any shape.
Nobel Super Soda Candy
Pretaste: The packaging is in english and looks like the New York Times Newspaper, but it calls itself “The Nobel’s Times” (Noble is the name of the brand). The art seems to be referencing Roy Lichtenstien, a famous American artist from the new art movement. His work often mimicked comics and advertisements in newspapers and the packaging seems to replicate that in its art (Berman). The packaging looks like it is trying to be a vintage cartoon but at the same time modern and appealing. The candy is not old, though. It is just making an interesting reference and the aesthetic is cool. The matte packaging adds contrast to the energy from the exclamation marks in phrases such as: “Oh! Soda!” and “Oh! Nobel!” as well as the candy in people’s mouths which looks electric or explosive. The description of the candy has an almost scientific aspect to it. It talks about the three layers with a diagram of the candy interior on the back.
Emily: The individual packaging reminds me of a warhead (but I do not think that the candy is as sour as a warhead) and is very simple in comparison to the outer package. The soda taste powder is yummy and sour and then the inside fizzy powder starts coming out of two holes in the hard sweet shell and then the candy broke apart in my mouth (which I think was not supposed to happen) and you have the almost fizzing inside powder which contrasts with the sweet candy shell. You are left with a sweet taste in your mouth that is made better by the unpleasant sour experience in the beginning and you just slowly suck on the sweet part of the candy.
Sophie: The candies have a powdery coating, they are VERY sour until the powdery coating dissolves, then they become more mild and sweet, then fizzy. Holes in the round candy release bubbly streams, make me think of a stream of soda, then it just becomes a yummy sort-of blueberry flavored lozenge. I agree with Emily, this candy reminds me of warheads but it is much less sour and it is sour only for a short period of time. The characters on the package art look surprised by the soda candy but not necessarily in a bad way. On the Warhead packaging, the man looks disturbed by how sour the candy is. He is puckering his lips and cheeks and his face turns red. I just think the comparison in marketing for “super sour” candies is interesting.
Lion Soda Kids Candy
Pretaste: The packaging is bright and shiny with cartoon characters on it so it would likely grab the attention of little kids. The six different flavors in the bag and the one bonus flavor. The characters on the front of the packaging have bright white teeth, these highlight the claim that the candy is “kind to your teeth” because it uses xylitol artificial wood sugar. The characters with their white teeth are prominent on both the front and the back to really establish this point and likely make parents more inclined to buy this for their children.
Sophie: The taste of these is similar to the Super Soda candy taste after the sour part. The packaging is also similar with its energy. The little characters on the front remind me of pacman. I think my parents would be more likely to buy this candy for me if they knew it was supposed to be better for my teeth. The shape of the candy is really fun to feel with my tongue, the flavor I got was like a watermelon jolly rancher, slightly sour but mostly like a sweet lozenge. The other flavor I tried is the “bonus flavor” but I can’t really tell what the flavor is supposed to be. Fizziness comes out every few seconds similar to the super soda candy, I wonder if these candies compete with the Super Soda candy because the experience is so similar!
Emily: The candy is shaped like the little character on the packaging. I tried the peach flavor, which was a bit tart, but really good. There is a fizzy powder in the middle that comes out of a little hole made in the hard shell of the candy just like the super soda candies, I wonder if there is any link between these two candies. It reminds me of these little hard candies that were fruit flavored that my mom would get us at the theater.
UHA UCC Milk Coffee Candy
Pretaste: The bag is a simple packaging that features a similar aesthetic to their coffee cans. This link would build consumer trust in the taste of their candies and the package even says in English: “UCC: the pioneer maker of the canned liquid coffee in Japan. Come on, and enjoy its original taste.” A large image of milk being poured visually represents that “smooth flavor of milk” and it promotes the milky aspect on the front and back of the packaging, also saying “please enjoy the deliciousness of fresh milk.”
Emily: I absolutely love these! They really taste like a sweet, milky coffee. It reminds me of the extremely over sweetened coffees you can get in a bottle like the Starbucks Frappuccino ones. The candy lasts quite a while and I could not have more than one because of the sugar level. The taste lingers.
Sophie: This hard candy reminds me of Werther’s original caramel candies but coffee flavored. They are sweet but definitely have a strong enough coffee flavor. The texture is very smooth in my mouth. This candy seems like it might be geared toward an older audience, perhaps the same people who would consume the canned coffee because the packaging is simple and more sophisticated, but I was not attracted to the old-fashioned color scheme of this bag.
A big credit and thank you to Max Shatan who helped us translate the writing on the packaging.
Product Image Links:
https://asianmart.com/products/calbee-jagarico-original-2-12oz-60g
https://asianmart.com/products/baby-star-crispy-ramen-snack-tonkotsu-flavor-2-47oz-70g
https://www.amazon.com/Nobel-Super-Soda-Candy-Ounce/dp/B00BQS6ZUE?th=1
https://justasianfood.com/collections/japanese-snacks/products/uha-ucc-milk-coffee-candy-3-31oz-94g
https://justasianfood.com/collections/japanese-snacks/products/lion-soda-kids-candy-3-30oz
https://omgjapan.com/products/lotte-koala-no-march
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Calbee-JagaRico-Sukiyaki-Potato-Snack-Made-in-Japan-1-83oz/870724922
Additional Sources:
Berman, Avis. Biography. Retrieved from https://lichtensteinfoundation.org/biography/
Japanese Snacks: History, Culture, and Values
Sophie Scobell
I was inspired to do this project for a similar reason to why I decided to take this course: food is something that we can all relate to, and it is a compelling way to study the history of a country. My parents have instilled in me the importance of healthy eating and checking the ingredients in the foods I buy. My diet is generally healthy but when it comes to snack foods, I tend to assume they are all equally unhealthy and I buy whatever looks good. I also tend to mindlessly snack. All to say: I don’t put much thought into my snacking habits. Because of this, I thought it would be illuminating to be more thoughtful about snacking and reflect on differences between snacks and snacking in Japan and the US. In purchasing these snacks, eating them, talking to Emily, and researching, many topics we have discussed in class came up. In this reflection, I will point out those connections and discuss some of the more pertinent observations I made while incorporating some research I conducted along the way.
I would like to first address that “snacks” are a rather broad category of food. “Snack” does not have a set meaning; it can vary from place to place, person to person, time of day, etc. (Hess). Emily and I focused on snacks that were cheap, ready-to-eat, and in the snack aisle of A Dong Supermarket. We avoided foods, like instant ramen, that could be considered a meal for some (but a snack for others). We sought out to find a wide variety of snacks so as to be able to discern trends among products.
Right off the bat, I was shocked to see the small size of all of the snacks, especially in contrast to the “party size” chip bags that clutter the snack aisle of American grocery stores. The salty snack bags were about the size of the single serving chips bags you can buy in the US in most vending machines. These bags, however, were resealable, suggesting they should be eaten with control and over a longer period of time. The largest package was the Marukyo Manju Sweet Assortment which Max Shatan, our translator, observed was likely meant to be a cheap gift. It is interesting that the largest package contained individually wrapped cakes that were difficult enough to unwrap to seem to signal “1 per serving” and were not actually meant for the individual who purchased them. The snacks themselves were mostly bite-sized and easy to handle without making a mess (unlike cheetos for example!). I also noticed the colorful range of greens, reds, yellows, blues and the presence of characters on the packaging. We unintentionally purchased some regional snacks, as pointed out by Max and in line with the other regional foods that exist in Japan like the train station bento boxes we discussed in class. When it came to taste, I found that the sweets and candies were much less sweet than the American sweets I am used to consuming while the salty snacks tended to have more artificial-tasting flavors. Finally, Emily and I were most always able to come up with an American version for each snack. In other words, these products were likely filling similar niches.
When Emily and I first started this project, we perused the many blog sites that come up in a google search for “popular Japanese snacks.” One of these blogs brought up the Japanese term kuchisabishii which means “to eat because your mouth is lonely” (Alyse). I found this word compelling because for one, the word’s existence suggests a desire that may exist among some Japanese people but also, snacking originated in Japan as a social event. According to Ishige, in his book, “The History and Culture of Japanese Food,” “snack foods originally developed as items served at stalls” (123). The stalls were streetside vendors often visited by single men in cities working blue-collar jobs who were not filled by their lunches (Ishige). I am reminded of the Kombini reading that highlighted the community building done by Kombini in Japan. You can get food and also build relationships with individuals working in the family-owned stores (Whitelaw). I am also reminded of the discussions we had in class about the social implications of eating alone, though I know this is changing with the rise of solo dining culture. This being said, I could not help but wonder if the characters present on 8/12 of the snacks we tasted were some attempt by producers to make the consumer feel less lonely, to fulfill the consumer’s kuchisabishii (I probably used this word incorrectly). The Picola Setouchi Lemon sticks are an interesting case because the cardboard packaging provides a stand to simultaneously hold the snack and phone. The design is clearly meant for a single person to use (and not dirty their phones while eating the snack with their hands). Moreover, I see this design as an attempt to make the consumer feel more comfortable eating alone–because that is how the snack-maker says the sticks should be consumed (implied with the box). The Picola sticks do contradict this interpretation, though, because the box contains two separate packages of lemon sticks. I am unsure whether the producer is suggesting that the snack should be shared between two people or that it should be consumed by the same person on two separate occasions.
After researching the origins of snacks in Japan, I was struck by the role of wealth in snack development, especially in the post-war period. For example, once the wealthier folks in Japan caught onto snacking, the shops started to get nicer and more expensive (Ishige, 124). There is some conflicting evidence on this front as sources suggest that wealthier, more developed countries tend to snack more, that less developed parts of the world haven’t yet developed an “obsession with snacking” (Ferdman). In Edo, the lower income workers were known to bring box lunches while everyone else would rely on the food carts for their lunches (Ishige, 124). As Japan developed and globalized, especially after World War II, there was an increased consumption of milk and milk products but actually a decrease in sweets and sugar consumption from 1970 to 1990, supposedly a “reflection of the dietary trend toward affluence in food and eating” (Ishige, 166-67). I hesitate to use the following statistic because it generalizes an enormous region of the world, but Ferdman also cites that the Asia-Pacific region ranks third in the world in the amount of money spent on snacks each year.[1] At the same time, Japan is supposedly one of the least likely countries to “skip dinner for something light and quick” at 21% compared to the US at 41% (Ferdman). All this said, I am unsure what to conclude about the relationship between the wealth of a country and its people’s snack consumption. As far as Japan being less likely to skip dinner for snacks, I think this can be summed up by a generally greater care for health and nutrition relative to the US and the rest of the world. The salty Calbee snacks we tasted tried to appeal to this value with prominent images of “hearty potatoes,” carrots and parsley, and sukiyaki dishes. The Calcuit milk biscuits do this as well with clear advertisement of the equivalent nutrients of the cookies in terms of milk, spinach, and meat. The sweets and candy snacks also generally contain better ingredients, lack high fructose corn syrup, and are less sweet.
Finally, during this project the relationship between snacks and World War II became quite clear. Emily and I noticed many of the snacks contained milk powder, wheat flour, and potatoes–all products that were sent by the US to Japan during and after World War II, or, in the case of potatoes, which were encouraged to be grown by farmers during the war for greater sustenance (Collingham, 232). We know that Japan adopted these foods among others including some oils (Ishige, 165). It was interesting to see many of these foods listed as some of the first ingredients in the 12 snacks. The oldest candy we tasted, Sakuma’s drops, made in 1908 during the Meiji period, incited an old, war-time-y feeling in me. Between the tin container, the old-fashioned looking design, and the impossible-to-open cap, I imagine this candy is famous (notorious?) in Japan. The company that produces Sakuma’s drops has intentionally kept the same old-fashioned packaging for over 100 years. I wonder if their goal is to incite some sort of war-time nostalgia for older consumers. Are these symbols of Japan’s national identity?
As I mentioned earlier, I have never put much thought into my snacking habits. I have never paid such close attention to American snacks as I did to Japanese snacks for this project. So, it would be unfair for me to conclude this reflection by making major comparisons between Japanese snacks and American snacks aside from that of package and portion sizes. To do that, Emily and I would have had to critically taste and observe some set of American snacks. Rather, I would like to wrap up by reinforcing some of my main observations. For one, I found a connection between kuchisabishii and the characters on snack containers to make consumers less lonely when snacking (which could be a lonely activity if you are, say, working late at the office, which happens a lot in Japan). Secondly, I learned that snack consumption patterns are heavily influenced by the wealth of countries and individuals in a complex way (that I still do not entirely understand). And finally, I observed that many “remains” of World War II can be seen on/in Japanese snacks as subtle symbols of past suffering that are part of Japan’s national identity.
Works Cited
Alyse, et al. “12 Must-Have Snacks from Japan and Where to Find Them.” The Invisible Tourist, 15 Oct. 2021, https://www.theinvisibletourist.com/snacks-from-japan/.
Collingham, E. M. The Taste of War : World War Two and the Battle for Food . Allen Lane, 2011.
Ferdman, Roberto A. “The Definitive Guide to How People around the World Snack.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 26 Apr. 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/30/the-wacky-world-of-international-snacking/.
Hess, Julie M, et al. “What Is a Snack, Why Do We Snack, and How Can We Choose Better Snacks? A Review of the Definitions of Snacking, Motivations to Snack, Contributions to Dietary Intake, and Recommendations for Improvement.” Advances in Nutrition, vol. 7, no. 3, 2016, pp. 466–475., https://doi.org/10.3945/an.115.009571.
Ishige. History of Japanese Food, Taylor & Francis Group, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wesleyan/detail.action?docID=1713408.
Whitelaw, Gavin Hamilton. “5. Shelf Lives and the Labors of Loss: Food, Livelihoods, and Japan’s Convenience Stores”. Capturing Contemporary Japan: Differentiation and Uncertainty, edited by Satsuki Kawano, Glenda S. Roberts and Susan Orpett Long, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2014, pp. 135-160. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824838706-007
[1] I am not sure if the statistics listed were normalized.
An Exploration of Sweets and Snacks in Japan
Emily Young
The snacks and sweets industry in Japan is thriving today. It has evolved from wagashi and sweets influenced by Japan’s contact with China to snacks sold at stalls by street vendors during the Edo period in the 1770s into the international industry it is now (Ishige, 123). The development of the snack and sweets industry in Japan led to several trends that Sophie and I noted as we tasted twelve different Japanese snacks and explored their packaging. Thus, while snacks and sweets might not be the first thing one thinks about when discussing a national cuisine, Sophie and I found many instances where these snacks reflect cornerstone aspects of Japanese cuisine. A few things we noted were an emphasis on regionalism, a large historical and western influence, and a concern with health. Finally, as this was a project about my understanding of Japanese snacks through the subjective experience of tasting them, I consider how that perspective could influence my understanding of Japanese cuisine.
One of the first things Sophie and I noticed about the packaging of the Japanese snacks we tasted was how they highlighted regional flavors and ingredients. The regional variety of snack food stems from the history of feudal domains in Japan. These domains would work to raise funds by selling regional products and would give them as unique gifts to the Shogun, leading to the development of different regional flavors (Japanology). In our exploration of a few Japanese snack foods Sophie and I saw that this trend still exists today. Regional flavors are a valued and marketable aspect of snacks and sweets. For instance, the Picola Setouchi Egg Rolls highlighted that its lemon flavor comes from Setouchi and the Calcuits Milk Biscuit even has a visual of Hokkaido on it. The Picola Setouchi Lemon Egg Rolls not only highlight their flavor with their packaging, but are also yellow colored like lemons and do have a very distinct lemon flavor. Thus, the tradition of utilizing regional flavors persists and remains a driving force in how the taste of Japanese snacks is determined as well as what ingredients they are made with. While an undiscerning consumer such as myself might not be able to truly taste the difference between lemons of the Setouchi region and another region, it does feel special to eat lemons that are known as a regional specialty. Thus, snacks curate the image of a high-quality food created from high quality and limited ingredients by using local flavors and tastes. Moreover, they encourage consumers to “collect” different iterations of the same product. Kit Kat, made by Nestle, a Swiss company, for instance, has specific bars that are restricted to certain regions in Japan making them more challenging to purchase and thus more valuable and desirable. Thus, even non-Japanese companies have picked up on the tradition of using regional flavors in Japan.
Snacks and sweets in Japan have also been influenced by contact with other countries and ingredient availability; Sophie and I noticed this in the level of sweetness. The proliferation of sweets harkens back to the Edo period, during which “cakes and candies made mainly from sweetened grain or beans became popular, and kashi changed its meaning from delicacies found in nature to those created by human hands” (Ishige, 258-9). However, cane sugar was often limited in Japan, resulting in less-sweet confectionery products and prioritizing cane sugar when trading with western countries. Though during the Edo period sugar became somewhat accessible from Ryukyu and China, sugar would again be limited and rationed during World War II. This resulted in sweets becoming unavailable to the general public during the war. Candies such as Sakuma’s drops, another candy that Sophie and I tried which have been manufactured since 1908, actually went out of business during World War II because sugar was so inaccessible. However, some sweets were still made with vitamins and minerals to distribute to soldiers during the war. Since World War II was a “total war” for Japan the food industry was tied to the mobilization effort and even packaging of foods changed to promote nationalized and militarized rhetoric and images (Cwiertka, 124). Sophie and I found it really interesting that the Sakuma drops continue to use this historical packaging. They utilize the tin packaging (originally “normal” but perhaps now evocative of the wartime era) as a marketing strategy. While yummy and enjoyable to eat, their unique and alluring aspect comes from this connection to Japan’s history, a connection so strong the drops are a trope in the famous movie Grave of the Fireflies, which deals with memory of World War II in Japan. In contrast, sweets such as Marukyo Manju Sweet Assortment, which we also tasted, use more traditional sweetening flavors such as red bean paste or chestnut filling. However, these dessert snacks were also quite sweet which I found surprising. The matcha flavor was not particularly sugary, but others like the red bean paste cake were, showing that even desserts using more traditional Japanese flavors are very sweet (though they may not have been originally, and they are meant to be eaten with tea). Just by considering how sugar is added and marketed in different Japanese sweets one can see historical influences on Japanese cuisine and understand how the Japanese market supports such a diverse flavor palette from the highly processed and sugary tasting Sakuma drops to the more traditional Marukyo Manju Sweet Assortment.
Snacks and sweets in general became more widely available after Japan increased its trade and contact with the Western world in the nineteenth century. Western culture and cuisine also introduced other types of sweets such as chocolates and caramels which became quite popular in Japan (Japanology). Again the Nestle Kit Kats are a prime example of Western sweets which grew into extremely popular products in Japan. This is in part because the name Kit Kat is similar to Kitto Katsu which translates to “you will surely win” and the candy was often given out for good luck, particularly in January during exam season. Ishige writes that, “Western confectionery containing fat and dairy products (yôgashi), especially cakes, were widely introduced from the Meiji period and today their popularity rivals that of the traditional Japanese confections (wagashi)” (Ishige, 261-2). Sophie and I noticed potential Western influence in the taste of the UCC Milk Coffee Candy which had a very sweet and milky taste and in the packaging of the Nobel Super Soda Candy which made references to the New York Times Newspaper and the American artist Roy Lichtenstein. I had never seen packaging as interesting as the Noble Super Soda Candy packaging, which was inventive and visually appealing. It made me consider not only how the flavor profiles of the sweets and snacks might have changed due to western influences, but also how Japanese consumers view the influence of western trends. The packaging would suggest that there is some appeal to western influenced imagery.
Not only has Japanese packaging and flavors changed to include references to the West (though in a distinctly Japanese manner) but ingredient availability and global contact has changed what types of snacks and sweets were invented. World War II changed the availability of traditional food staples in Japan such as rice. This led to larger consumption of alternative carbohydrates such as wheat flour and potatoes (Solt, 186). Many of the savory snacks that we tried today used wheat flour, such as the Lotte Koala No March Chocolate Biscuits (these also use chocolate which was a western import), or potatoes, such as the Calbee JagaRico Potato Snack. Even the prevalence of ramen in Japan originated from World War II rice shortages and now we have Crispy Ramen Snacks from BabyStar because of the enormous market for ramen products (interestingly, the child on the packages is dressed in a “Chinese” manner). When tasting these snacks however, their taste was not like other American snacks that I have tasted, despite these western influences in ingredients. The Calbee JagaRico Potato Snacks and Crispy Ramen Snacks demonstrate how Japanese snacks, like Japanese cuisine, adapt to create a Japanese taste despite this western influence. The Kit Kats also highlight how western tastes and candies are influenced by Japanese flavors and markets. The increased popularity of Japanese cuisine was reflected in having a matcha and many other Japanese flavors of the candy.
Another aspect that we noticed about the snacks was their focus on health. We saw this orientation towards health in a few of the snacks such as the Calcuits Milk Biscuits which highlighted their calcium content and the Calbee JagaRico Potato Snacks with their carrot and parsley bits. One reason health is important is because as the workforce diversified in the 1990s and snacks were sometimes eaten as meal substitutes. Today over 100,000 companies in Japan are offering snacks to their employees which encourages them to buy a snack there and take a shorter break or work late (Japanology). In 2018 the sweets and snack industry in Japan was valued at around “3.5 trillion yen per year, which is a tenfold increase over 30 years ago” (Japanology). Entering the 21st century snacks have evolved to become more health conscious. Now, many people want snacks that are additive free, non-fried, and low in calories. While the packaging makes the health benefits of the snacks such as the Calcuits Milk Biscuits and the Calbee JagaRico Potato Snacks clear, they are still quite yummy. It is clear that the producers thought quite a bit about how to add nutritional value to the snacks while also making them easy and enjoyable to eat. It also speaks to Japanese consumer desires that these snacks, which openly promote health benefits, do not turn people away. Instead, the nutritional value is a selling point, one that consumers clearly see from the packaging. We can also see how important eating healthy is in Japanese culture through their attention to serving healthy school lunches. The laborious school lunch program was created to promote healthy students and continues to focus on curating healthy meals put together by food specialists. The thought put into these snacks can be easy to miss since they are meant to be easy to eat quickly and on the go. However, this project had me think about all the products and foods that are included in a national cuisine.
Looking at snacks and sweets, which are more easily accessible to consumers in other countries because of their longer lasting shelf lives and easy exportation made this project particularly poignant for me as foreign consumer. These categories of Japanese cuisine are most accessible to me and other foreign consumers, especially those who will never visit Japan. They might be the only items of Japanese food produced in Japan that foreigners eat. Thus, it is important to consider what they can tell an attentive consumer about Japanese culture and society, but also consider what a foreign consumer might miss. This project made me constantly conscious of my perspective since I was trying to learn about Japanese cuisine through the relatively subjective process of eating Japanese snacks. The project made me evaluate the way that I choose and consume snacks. What are the aspects of packages and products that draw me? How should I think about being much more likely to consume a product that uses English writing such as the Sour Soda candies? Can I untangle the obvious benefit of being able to read about snacks and thus be more confident that I would like them if they are labeled in English and hidden western biases that I have internalized which make me view snacks and products of other cultures as perhaps inferior or exoticized and thus I only try them when I am feeling adventurous? How does brand recognition prompt me to try certain snacks over other snacks such as with Kit Kats, a western brand that I have eaten before?
These questions led me to look up how other people unfamiliar with Japanese snacks and sweets might choose products. I found several blog posts dedicated to helping people like me find the “must-have snacks from Japan” (Alyse). These posts ranged from suggestions of what to bring home from Japan as a memento to what you should go find at a local Japanese market. Snacks and sweets have an enormous potential to be cultural carriers, especially as many blog posts promote taking them home as souvenirs and letting your family and friends try them. One post writes, “you’ll enjoy plenty of sushi, tempura, and ramen in Japan. But what food can you actually bring home?” (ViaHero) This post relies on the opinions of “Japanese locals” and starts with Kit Kats, which it calls the “very foundations of Japanese sweets” (ViaHero). While the article does make the compelling point that there are over 300 Kit Kat flavors unique to Japan which make Japanese flavors, including regional flavors, a powerhouse influence on the gigantic brand that in turn ripples out to consumers, a collaboration that only began around 30 years ago is clearly not the foundation of Japanese sweets (ViaHero). The article promotes flavors that are “off-the-beaten-path,” “bizzare,” or “funky,” language which clearly orients the Japanese flavor palette as “other” and exotic instead of perhaps original and accessible only through Japan and its history (ViaHero). Another post actually dives a bit into the history of these snacks, writing that “finding out the cultural and historical reasons behind their popularity is half the fun” (Alyse). Other than a few facts peppered in, such as how “chocolate was introduced to Japan during the Edo period from a Dutch trading vessel, [but] it wasn’t actually manufactured in Japan until 1918,” there is not a significant amount of historical or cultural content about more recent snacks in the post. However, there is some history on the older and more traditional sweets and candies. Thus, Japanese snacks today might not convey much of the history behind their creation to a modern consumer, but they still represent many of the flavors and tastes of Japan. Perhaps later people will research and write more about the snacks and sweets that were made during our time.
I definitely do not have an answer to all of these questions. However, I do think that being more educated about Japanese cuisine overall played a role in my ability to overcome some of these biases. For instance, I was interested in the Picola Setouchi Lemon Egg Roll candies in part because I recognized their emphasis on regional flavors from their packaging, an aspect of Japanese cuisine I had become familiar with during the class. Thus, the class influenced the aspects of the snacks that I was drawn to. However, eating the snacks also taught me more about the taste of the foods that Japanese people are eating which is hard to learn from texts and pictures. Sophie and I found that many of the snacks were crunchy and emphasized that aspect of the snack. Many were savory and based off of Japanese dishes, unlike in America where the closest meal reference a snack makes are BBQ flavored chips. I also found it surprising initially that the Calbee Jaga Rico Sukiyaki Potato Snack tasted so much like beef broth. It highlighted that sometimes reading about how Japanese cuisine ingredients and tastes have changed to increase meat significantly more than they did in past centuries does not have as great an impact as tasting this difference oneself. While some were quite sweet through the use of sugar or more traditional flavors, there were quite a few sour candies. The appreciation of sour tastes reminds me of sushi and how the dish is centered and named after the sour taste rice takes on with fermentation or vinegar. I enjoyed most of them and my new exposure to Japanese snacks has definitely increased my desire to eat more. Thus, perhaps the best way to overcome biases is to continue interacting with a cuisine in an attentive way.
While this process did not answer all these questions for me, it did highlight them and lent some new avenues for thinking. Moreover, working with Sophie allowed us to raise these questions together. We could question if being attracted to a candy whose packaging looked like it was a tin made for wartime was problematic (a point Sophie observed and raised during our investigatory snacking sessions) and we could also think about how a company intentionally chose to market it this way. We felt that this could be problematic, selling or romanticizing the war and its memory without acknowledging the loss. This project was challenging because finding information in English was difficult and I had to take an introspective look into how I interpreted snacks from other countries. There was also a wide arrange of ways that the project could go and I thought it was quite informative to track how these sweets and candies show the influences and Japanese history on its cuisine, but there were many other directions that it could have taken. Moreover, it was also the first time that I had thought about how perhaps snacks and sweets, as well as other packaged foods, might be able to convey more about a culture because they have packaging and information that a consumer can engage with before even trying the product. To continue following this topic I would be really interested in exploring specific brands. For instance, Sophie and I watched some Calbee advertisements that were interesting and could be compared with other snack advertisements. Or investigating marketing strategies of these snacks such as the packaging and how it might influence consumer purchasing. Aspects such as the prevalence of nature and animal motifs (like the Koalas) might be one marketing strategy or just reflective of the close association between Japanese cuisine and nature.
Bibliography
Alyse. (2021, February 9). Must-Have Snacks from Japan & Where to Find Them Right Now. https://www.theinvisibletourist.com/snacks-from-japan/
ViaHero. (2020, December 8). 12 Snacks to Bring Home from Japan. https://www.viahero.com/travel-to-japan/foods-to-bring-home-from-japan
Begin Japanology. (2018, February 16). Food in Japan Sweets and Snacks Japanology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzfMJcuzOKs
Ishige. History of Japanese Food, Taylor & Francis Group, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wesleyan/detail.action?docID=1713408.
Cwiertka, Katarzyna J.. Modern Japanese Cuisine : Food, Power and National Identity, Reaktion Books, Limited, 2007. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wesleyan/detail.action?docID=449404.
George Solt, “Ramen and U.S. Occupation Policy” in Ed. Rath, Japanese Foodways.