Japanese Candy

Japan is really good at a lot of things. One of them is candy. I promise, you can go to the candy section at any Japanese food store and just pick any candy on the shelf and it will be so good.

The candy is quite creative and so is the packaging. It’s not as sweet as American candy and the flavors are distinct. Especially if there is fruit involved. Strawberry actually tastes like biting into a fresh strawberry. Kiwi tastes like it was just picked from the tree. (Did you know kiwi actually has a very pungent odor when growing on the tree? I did not know this until I visited France and experienced my first kiwi tree. Whoo-ee they smell!!) Oh and the chocolate! Chocolate is better to me because it is about the chocolate and not the sugar like it is in American chocolate.

Names of some of the candies can be quite fun/funny too as in the “Men’s Chocolate” pictured here. What the heck is men’s chocolate?

The Kinoko No Yama (mushroom of the mountain) candy pictured here is one of my own children’s favorite growing up and still. My daughter will tell you it is the perfect balance of chocolate and cookie.