Kit Kats and other cool things from Japan
I’ve been wanting to do this post for a while now but it’s taken me some time to get my act together.
I like to see different flavors of my favorite snacks available in other countries. One particular obsession I have is with all the different flavors of kitkats in Japan.
Here in the U.S., we get milk chocolate, an occasional dark chocolate, and maybe a white chocolate. Not very inventive. But in Japan, they have many flavors, with each providence having its own unique flavors and certain flavors being produced only during limited holiday times, etc. According to wikipedia, there are close to a hundred flavors in Japan.
My obsession to collect and eat Japanese kit kats was born a few years ago when my friend brought me back some green tea kit kats after a trip to Japan. Since then, I’m constantly following up on the latest ones.
Some of the Japanese flavors can be found at Mitsuwa market or Nijiya market. Sadly, the majority of them are only available in Japan. I will stop by the Japanese markets whenever possible just to see what new flavors of kit kats they have in stock. And recently, I started browsing J-List/JBox (Jlist is the full site and contains products which are for adults, and Jbox is PG version of the site), which is like a portal to all things Japanese. They sell snacks, clothes, candy, bento boxes. I’ve become a pretty frequent customer…
Anyhow, here are some Japanese kit kat flavors I have been able to get my hands on. Pictured in the cup from right to left are matcha, milk tea, a type of japanese yam, and edamame bean.
The matcha ones were found one lone day at Nijiya and never to be seen again. I also saw them on Jlist, but they aren’t being sold during the summer because of the heat.
Milk tea was found at Mitsuwa. I also found a caramel pudding one there as well.
On J-List I found the japanese yam and also a cheese flavor.
Finally the edamane came from JaponMania.
I love all the different flavors. They tend to be sweeter than the American version because they use a white chocolate base and then add the flavoring and color. It’s pretty cool how many flavors they can achieve though.
I also wanted to take the time to share some other cute purchases I got from Jlist.
I don’t have much of a bento collection, but when I saw these bentos shaped like kokeshi dolls, I had to get them. I got a girl and a boy, one for me and one for the Future Husband. They have quite a large collection of characters to choose from. These bento boxes are available on J-List and JaponMania.
Each one has two container compartments and a bowl, which stack up to form a doll. I like that the middle layer has a lid, and wish the bottom layer had it’s own lid. These make the cutest bento boxes of all time. Unfortunately, the dolls are much smaller than I imagined. Definitely not enough to fit a whole meal, but enough for breakfast and a snack. During a hard work week, seeing my little girl bento really cheered me up.
Finally, I recently got some Pocky chopsticks. They are slightly smaller than the standard chopsticks, but they are usable. They look so much like real Pocky! I got the chocolate one for FH and the strawberry one for me.
hi, i just wanted to know when is the “season” when they sell the flavored kit kats? thanks (: love the bento box.
I think it depends on the flavor of kit kats. But usually you will see a lot of flavored ones around Christmas/New Year’s.
your post makes me want to go to Japan, ASAP!!! 🙂
btw, we have orange flavored KitKat here in the Philippines.
Orange? Interesting. My FH went to the Philippines a few years ago, but it was before my kit kat hobby or else I would have asked him to get me different flavors.
when i went to japan a few years ago i had the green tea one! strange.different.but good!
Glad you liked it. Green tea is one of my favorites, but I like anything green tea flavored.
I was unaware of the variety of Kit Kat flavors until a friend brought me back a bag of treats from her vacation in Japan. Among the curious flavors were wasabi, soy sauce, and strawberry cheesecake. I found them all delicious and much more mild then what I was expecting. Ever since, I too search for them in specialty stores. 🙂
I’ve been wanting to try the wasabi one. I also want to try purple yam because I love the color purple. This is the first that I’ve heard about a soy sauce flavor!
We got some of the green tea flavored Kit Kats from Marukai Value. https://www.omiyage.ca/ is also a really cute site to buy Japanese things from. They’re from Canada, but they will ship to the US. LOVE the Pocky chopsticks! I’ve gonna have to get those for sure!
Thanks for the tip. I will definitely have to check out this site. I can’t believe I missed out on Marukai Value having them!
Wow, interesting Kit Kat flavors! The Bento boxes and Pocky chopsticks are so adorable 🙂
I will have to look for the bitter almond next time I’m at MItsuwa or Nijiya. RE: Peter Payne, I found out he was at SDSU the same time I was (eons ago, haha).I believe he wrote a few articles for the Daily Aztec. I went to Royal T a few weeks ago and had the high tea. Pricy but you are paying for the experience. I am backlogged on my vacation posts but will be getting to the Royal T post in due time.
Can’t wait to see your post. Oh that’s interesting he went to SDSU. I’ve been curious as to his background. Do you know if he grew up in Japan or lived there for many years or what? In his letters, he talks as if he grew up in Japan. For the bitter almond, I’ve seen the bags, but sometimes they have them just as an individual bar with four fingers in the individual candy section.
he grew up in san diego but moved to japan to teach english. i believe that is where he met his wife. he was 2 kids, one boy and one girl. i used to subscribe to his j-list blog and that’s how i know all this stuff. i do not know him personally. he speaks japanese fluently too.
Ah ok. Thanks for the info!
Hi Kirbie,
I just stumbled upon your blog when i was searching for some cakes recipe.
An interesting blog with beautiful photos 🙂
Oh I love kit-kat bars. There are so many flavors and I even tried the unique flavor ~ wasabi. The Bento dolls are so kawaii and a great collection.
I’m glad you like my blog. I haven’t yet had the opportunity to try wasabi, but I hope to one day!
hi kirbie – did you know that the owner/founder of j-list is from san diego?
i’ve tried the cheese kit kats and don’t like them. i can’t get past the smell.
my fave kit kats are dark chocolate. i have always been curious about the lemon and the green tea version.
they sell bags that look like a pocky box at Royal T Cafe in Culver City. You would really love it there – it’s a cosplay cafe where the waitresses are dressed like maids! so cute!
Yes! I saw him at the Con last year, but I didn’t really know much about J-List. I read his email newsletter and he talks about being in SD, though he moved to Japan earlier this year after the earthquake. I believe he is coming back for the Con though.
Have you tried the bitter almond flavor? They have it at the Japanese markets here sometimes. It’s more bitter than regular dark chocolate. I kind of like it.
Oh, I’ve been to Royal T, but only once. I didn’t get to go to the cafe. I went during Hello Kitty’s anniversary and the place was just so ridiculously packed with such long lines. I’ve been wanting to go back to try the Cafe and shop.
I really like your posts, thanks for sharing!
You probably already know the Marukai Value (previously named Daiso) also stocks flavored kit kat (occasionally). A few months ago I saw they had green tea flavor, there was even had a sign by the register “We have green tea kit kat 🙂
Oh I have no idea that Marukai had them too! Darn. I go there a lot but I must have missed it. I did get some other green tea candies there, but not the kit kats. Next year when they are in season, I will check Marukai. Thanks for the tip!