Try five of Japan’s most popular snacks, all for under $17.
Inside Tokyo Station lies a dreamland called Tokyo Okashi Land (“Tokyo Candy Land“), where you can find a collection of antenna shops of famous candy companies such as Ezaki Glico, Kameda Seika, MorinagaAnd Calbee.
It’s a popular place to buy some of Japan’s best cute souvenirs, but with the sheer number of shops and menu items, it can be difficult to keep track of where to shop and what to buy, especially when you’re in a rush and desperate to catch your train.
▼ 東京おかしランド (“Tokyo Okashi Land”)
However, we want to point you in the right direction with five of the best products worth spending your money on. And the best part: it’s an affordable purchase, because all of these items cost less than 2,500 yen (US$16.96), which is a steal considering their quality and uniqueness. So let’s get started and begin the journey, starting with…
1. Glicos Almond Days.
▼ One of the best things you can buy here is the Almond Cream Frozen All Almond (690 yen for one medium).
This is the store’s most popular item, and it’s easy to see why, as it’s rich and luxurious but not too sweet, made with frozen almond milk and topped with a generous amount of special almond milk cream. The aroma and nuttiness of the almonds are pronounced, but the flavor is well-rounded, leaving a fresh aftertaste and a feeling of sweet satisfaction. And if you follow the store’s Instagram and show it to the staff, you’ll get a free 50 yen topping.
▼ The biscuit topping is highly recommended.
2. Kameda Seika
This company has the lion’s share of the market when it comes to rice snacks and produces some of the most popular brands in the country, including one called Happy turn of events. Sprinkled with a delicious “Happy Powder,” these addictive snacks are among the most popular in Japan, but here at Tokyo Okashi Land, you can pick up a freshly prepared variety that is hard to find elsewhere.
There are different flavors to choose from, but Freshly prepared Happy Turn Powder Mania (540 yen) is the crowd favorite in Okashi Land because it contains more than twice as much Happy Powder as usual and therefore has a stronger flavor.
▼ You can eat them in the store, but since they are sold in bags, we recommend buying them here and taking them with you on your Shinkansen journey.
3. Morinaga’s Okashi na Okashi-ya san
This play on words can be translated as follows:Morinaga’s Funny Candy Shop“, and the sense of fun and play is definitely reflected in the cute and colorful store interior.
While Morinaga produces some of the best cookies and sweet caramels in the country, you can enjoy them here in rare forms, as Freshly baked moonlight cookie (300 yen) and a Morinaga milk caramel soft ice cream (480 yen).
▼ The cookie is served piping hot and is so large that it won’t fit in the palm of your hand like a regular Moonlight Cookie, which is usually sold in boxes of 14 in the supermarket.
▼ The ice cream is inspired by Morinaga’s famous chewing gum Milk caramel sweetsa piece of which is added to the soft ice cream for additional flavor.
4. Calbee Plus
Calbee is another big name in the Japanese snack world and one of its most famous products is Jagaricoa crispy potato snack sold in a cup. However, at Okashi Land, you can try an exclusive version called BIG Poteriko Special Potato Salad Flavour (430 yen). Not available anywhere else, this snack offers the same potato salad flavour as the Jagarico range, but with onions for a more refined taste, and the potato sticks are much thicker and longer than the regular version.
▼ Be careful – it’s addictive!
If you have time, you can combine your potato snack with a glass of cold beer, another exclusive treat for the customers of this store.
So after visiting four of the best shops in Tokyo Okashi Land and purchasing five items, how much did we spend? Well, the total was 2,440 yenwhich is a great bargain by our standards. Not only does this selection give you a variety of sweet and savory options to tantalize your taste buds, but it also introduces you to some of the country’s most well-known and popular snacks and sweets, some of which you won’t find anywhere else.
So next time you’re rushing between the platforms at Tokyo Station, keep an eye out for these recommendations at Okashi Land. And if you’re lucky, you might even come across some rare and exclusive KitKats!
See also: Tokyo Okashi Land
Photos ©SoraNews24
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(Read in Japanese)
