One of the best categories of things to bring back from Japan is snacks. You'll encounter all kinds of snacks. Do visit all kinds of shops and definitely each of the konbini chains like Lawson, 7-11, and FamilyMart. You can even stock up on a few baked goods / cookies the day you leave or the day before to have something fresh to eat that reminds you of Japan after you get home. This post is a list of sweets and snacks I would recommend that you try and if you like them, then bring some back! I just don't bring drinks as they are heavy unless it is alcohol.
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| Lots of instant noodles to choose from. |
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| Lots of different types of Kit Kats too! |
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| Then there all kinds of Pocky, Pretz, and chocolate biscuits in general. |
BAKING
Yup. You can bring baking like cake, cookies, and mochi back home. Just pack it well in your carry on or your luggage if you have a box to prevent squishing. This is a big treat that is nice for the first few days to weeks after you get home - check the best before dates.
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| FAMIMA brand baking from FamilyMart - quite nice and individually packaged. |
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| Dorayaki. These are pretty much like cream or red bean filled pancakes - fluffy and delicious. |
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| Baumkuchen spit cake. Nice treat to remind you about a Japanese favourite. |
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| Baumkuchen in a plastic tray. This is a larger one, but you can buy small ones at the konbini. |
SWEETS
All kinds of gum, candy, gummies, and other sugary treats. The Japanese are really good with fruit flavours and are sugar masters. These are some of the best types of things to bring back as they are compact and resist crushing.
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| Mintia sugarless mints and sweet candy. |
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| Hard candies - ramune or Japanese lemonade is a favourite of mine. |
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| Chewy milk candies are really good too. |
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| Yogurt chews. All kinds of flavours. Puccho is a good brand and tasty too. |
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| Fruit gummy candy of all kinds and packaging. Always get a bag or two to eat later. |
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| Three different flavours if you cannot decide! |
Snacks Both Traditional and Modern
Japan has made all kinds of traditional preserved food snacks and crispy snacks of various types. Some of these even have a modern take on them now. Try some and bring back what your taste buds like.
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| White chocolate or green tea chocolate covered freeze dried strawberries. An explosion of berry flavour and chocolate in your mouth. |
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| Crackers of various types. These fried rice / tapioca / prawn crackers are delish! You can find these types of crackers and giant prawn crackers being sold in the konbini too. |
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| Munchie mix Japanese style with little sardines. You can get it without the fish too. |
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| More chocolate covered strawberries and deep fried veggie chips. |
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| These were delicious. Umeboshi plums in sheet form. I needed to bring back a box of these. |
Chocolate
The Japanese are also chocolate masters. Their famous Kit Kats to other kinds of chocolate are a must. You can get a lot of this at the konbini or supermarket too.
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| Strawberry Cheesecake Kit Kat in a Mt. Fuji box. This is actually one of my favourite types of Kit Kat as the strawberry flavour is really good. |
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| What you get inside the box. |
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| All kinds of strawberry chocolates. Japanese strawberries are really good and their flavour is well represented. |
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| More Kit Kats. |
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| Strawberry and green tea chocolate biscuits. |
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| Meltykiss chocolates are always good and make good souvenir gifts. |
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| The green tea Meltykiss are awesome. |
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| Bamboo shoot biscuits covered in chocolate - various flavours can be found. |
Crunchy Snacks
All kinds of potato chips, and other crunchy fried snack food can be found. Much of this makes for great snacks to go with beer or just with tea or a soft drink. There is great variety to choose from.
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| These UHA croquette, sui mai, and freeze dried mushroom snacks. |
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| These little cheese biscuits are so cheesy and delicious. |
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| All kinds of potato chips, sometimes you can find limited editions too. |
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| These biscuits are a temporary meal replacements / energy bars. |
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| Lots of battered and fried peanuts and crackers. |
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| This type of potato chip is more common now, but was really cool when they were first introduced in Japan as they look like french fries. |
Soups and Noodles
You can get a taste of real Japanese food too in the form of various kinds of soup and instant noodles with Japanese flavourings. There are all types of these, with some really good soup and noodles available.
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| Amano freeze dried miso soup - awesome stuff. They even have other kinds of stews and things - like camping food. |
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| Variety snack pack of instant noodles that can sometimes be found in supermarkets like Ito Yokado or maybe Don Quijote. |
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| You get five kinds of ramen inside, but they are all small small cups. A real sampler. |
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| The various konbini chains carry all kinds of deluxe instant cup noodles. Sometimes they are limited edition (like the Nakiryu above) and sometimes they have a house brand that is really good as it represents a famous noodle shop (7-11 has a number of these). Do check out their selections. |
One last word on Japanese snacks and chocolates. More and more of these are now available outside of Japan at your local Asian supermarket. Do check out what you can buy at home - even if it costs a little more or double what it does in Japan. Buy the stuff you can't find at home in Japan to make it more special.
Japanese Food and Snacks as Souvenirs (Kit Kats, Whiskey, Chips, and More) More Japanese pop culture posts.
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