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We're passionate about delicious things here at Tofu Cute. When it comes to Japanese snacks, you'll probably find that there are few groups as knowledgeable about the delicious Japanese Snacks that we sell as Team Tofu. From Pocky to Saku Saku Pan, Pocari Sweat to Calpis, Caramel Corn to Crunky - We've seen it all in our time operating the UK's cutest shop, and have learned a lot of interesting things about them!
So today on the Tofu Cute Blog, we're going to be looking at 6 interesting facts about Japanese Snacks! These facts are all genuinely true* insights about some of our favourite Japanese snacks and the companies that make them. Some of our most popular snacks have surprising origins or fun details that you may never have known! Learning is fun. |
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You may be slightly aware of the Japanese confectionery company Kabaya, who have made some delicious snacks that we've been lucky enough to sample. One of my favourites from Kabaya would be Kabaya's Ju-C Soda Balls, but we've got a wide range of snacks from Kabaya including Sebon Star, Kakigori Shaved Ice Gummy Sweets and many more. But what does the name Kabaya mean? I'm sure you've wondered this often.
The name Kabaya comes from 'Kaba' - the Japanese word for Hippo. According their company history, the company admired the 'quiet and peace loving' nature of the Hippo, which is why they decided to include it in their company name. They also included it in their company logo until 1987, and had their very own baby Hippo mascot named Kabako! Whilst Kabaya's new logo is very sleek, I can't help but prefer the Hippo theme of the original. |
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If you needed more reasons to eat sweet things, then rejoice - there's an official 'Wagashi Day' celebrated in Japan, celebrating the wide array of 'wagashi' - traditional Japanese sweets. While these aren't quite like the modern Japanese snacks we sell at tofu cute, many popular Japanese snacks are based on the concepts and flavours of wagashi.
Mochi for example is one type of wagashi, so is Konpeito, as well as doriyaki, manju and other japanese treats you may have heard of in some of our snack flavours. According to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, traditional Japanese sweets are celebrated on June 16th as a means to honour an ancient tradition, wherein 'Emperor Ninmyo offered 16 confections or rice cakes to the Gods to ward off evil in the Heian period'. Sounds like a great reason to eat some mochi, to me!
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If you have even a passing knowledge of popular Japanese drinks, you'll be well aware of Ramune and how much we love it. With many different flavours and a unique marble seal that's unlike anything else, you may be interested to know how Ramune became such a phenomenon.
Ramune has an interesting history, and the marble seal style of bottle is actually attributed to a Scottish gentleman named Alexander Cameron Sim, who in the late 19th century introduced the idea of a 'marble soda' to Kobe in Osaka, Japan. It gained popularity as a preventative measure for cholera, and in the centuries since, was adapted into the drink we know today as Ramune, with the original marble seal method still remaining on the bottles! We imagine that the flavour (& variety of flavours)is a lot better now, though.
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Continuing along the vaguely historical theme that some of these facts have had, the Japanese confectionery company Lotte, perhaps best known by us for their delicious chewing gum brand Fit's, also has a strange name origin. In fact, Lotte takes their name from the second half of the name Charlotte, in reference to a character from the 18th Century German novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by acclaimed novelist Goethe.
This literary inspiration for the company's name has helped the company develop many marketing slogans over its long history, including the recent - 'The sweetheart of your mouth, Lotte' which I'm not sure if I like. Although I definitely love Lotte's snacks, I don't know if they're the sweetheart of my mouth. |
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One of my favourite Japanese drinks is the universally renowned 'Ion Resupply' drink Pocari Sweat. Although we don't currently have any in stock (which makes me very sad) we do have these tremendous Pocari Sweat pencils available.
In a truly inspiring move, our fifth fact concerns the rather incredible premise that Pocari Sweat, of all things, is going to go space. Yes! In 2014, the Otsuka Pharmaceutical company began a campaign to send a 'dream capsule' to the moon. The capsule will look like a can of pocari sweat, contain pocari sweat in powder form, and also contain '120 titanium plates [that] will be laser-engraved with handwritten dreams submitted by children in Asia and around the globe.' Wow.
The capsule was originally schedule for a 2015 trip to the moon, which has since been rescheduled to 2020!
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You're probably very familiar with the wide range of bizarre and delicious Japanese Kit Kat flavours that we've made available on Tofucute.com over our nearly 10 years of service. Due to the immense popularity of the snack in Japan, over 300(!!) different types of regional and limited edition flavours have been produced alongside the usual flavours. As much as we'd like to, it's just not possible for us to get a hold of all of them, but there are definitely some truly interesting sounding flavours that I've still yet to try including: Lemon Vinegar, Kiwi, Plum Soda, Yuzu & Pepper, Miso Soup, Brown Sugar and Apple Pie. Do any of those sound good to you?
If they don't then perhaps some of the Japanese Kit Kats that we actually have available might be more in line with your taste. We've currently got some delicious flavours such as Rum & Raisin, Strawberry Cheesecake and Kumamon Ikinari Dango! And who knows what we'll receive in the future...
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| What do you think of these Japanese Snack Facts? Did you learn anything interesting?
If you did, or if you have any interesting Japanese Snack facts of your own, please let us know! You can leave us comments on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram! If you're a Tomodachi member, don't forget to REACT to this post using the buttons below to claim some free Tomodachi Points! Thanks for reading!
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We're passionate about delicious things here at Tofu Cute. When it comes to Japanese snacks, you'll probably find that there are few groups as knowledgeable about the delicious Japanese Snacks that we sell as Team Tofu. From Pocky to Saku Saku Pan, Pocari Sweat to Calpis, Caramel Corn to Crunky - We've seen it all in our time operating the UK's cutest shop, and have learned a lot of interesting things about them!
So today on the Tofu Cute Blog, we're going to be looking at 6 interesting facts about Japanese Snacks! These facts are all genuinely true* insights about some of our favourite Japanese snacks and the companies that make them. Some of our most popular snacks have surprising origins or fun details that you may never have known! Learning is fun. |
|
|
You may be slightly aware of the Japanese confectionery company Kabaya, who have made some delicious snacks that we've been lucky enough to sample. One of my favourites from Kabaya would be Kabaya's Ju-C Soda Balls, but we've got a wide range of snacks from Kabaya including Sebon Star, Kakigori Shaved Ice Gummy Sweets and many more. But what does the name Kabaya mean? I'm sure you've wondered this often.
The name Kabaya comes from 'Kaba' - the Japanese word for Hippo. According their company history, the company admired the 'quiet and peace loving' nature of the Hippo, which is why they decided to include it in their company name. They also included it in their company logo until 1987, and had their very own baby Hippo mascot named Kabako! Whilst Kabaya's new logo is very sleek, I can't help but prefer the Hippo theme of the original. |
If you needed more reasons to eat sweet things, then rejoice - there's an official 'Wagashi Day' celebrated in Japan, celebrating the wide array of 'wagashi' - traditional Japanese sweets. While these aren't quite like the modern Japanese snacks we sell at tofu cute, many popular Japanese snacks are based on the concepts and flavours of wagashi.
Mochi for example is one type of wagashi, so is Konpeito, as well as doriyaki, manju and other japanese treats you may have heard of in some of our snack flavours. According to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, traditional Japanese sweets are celebrated on June 16th as a means to honour an ancient tradition, wherein 'Emperor Ninmyo offered 16 confections or rice cakes to the Gods to ward off evil in the Heian period'. Sounds like a great reason to eat some mochi, to me!
|
|
|
If you have even a passing knowledge of popular Japanese drinks, you'll be well aware of Ramune and how much we love it. With many different flavours and a unique marble seal that's unlike anything else, you may be interested to know how Ramune became such a phenomenon.
Ramune has an interesting history, and the marble seal style of bottle is actually attributed to a Scottish gentleman named Alexander Cameron Sim, who in the late 19th century introduced the idea of a 'marble soda' to Kobe in Osaka, Japan. It gained popularity as a preventative measure for cholera, and in the centuries since, was adapted into the drink we know today as Ramune, with the original marble seal method still remaining on the bottles! We imagine that the flavour (& variety of flavours)is a lot better now, though.
|
Continuing along the vaguely historical theme that some of these facts have had, the Japanese confectionery company Lotte, perhaps best known by us for their delicious chewing gum brand Fit's, also has a strange name origin. In fact, Lotte takes their name from the second half of the name Charlotte, in reference to a character from the 18th Century German novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by acclaimed novelist Goethe.
This literary inspiration for the company's name has helped the company develop many marketing slogans over its long history, including the recent - 'The sweetheart of your mouth, Lotte' which I'm not sure if I like. Although I definitely love Lotte's snacks, I don't know if they're the sweetheart of my mouth. |
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One of my favourite Japanese drinks is the universally renowned 'Ion Resupply' drink Pocari Sweat. Although we don't currently have any in stock (which makes me very sad) we do have these tremendous Pocari Sweat pencils available.
In a truly inspiring move, our fifth fact concerns the rather incredible premise that Pocari Sweat, of all things, is going to go space. Yes! In 2014, the Otsuka Pharmaceutical company began a campaign to send a 'dream capsule' to the moon. The capsule will look like a can of pocari sweat, contain pocari sweat in powder form, and also contain '120 titanium plates [that] will be laser-engraved with handwritten dreams submitted by children in Asia and around the globe.' Wow.
The capsule was originally schedule for a 2015 trip to the moon, which has since been rescheduled to 2020!
|
You're probably very familiar with the wide range of bizarre and delicious Japanese Kit Kat flavours that we've made available on Tofucute.com over our nearly 10 years of service. Due to the immense popularity of the snack in Japan, over 300(!!) different types of regional and limited edition flavours have been produced alongside the usual flavours. As much as we'd like to, it's just not possible for us to get a hold of all of them, but there are definitely some truly interesting sounding flavours that I've still yet to try including: Lemon Vinegar, Kiwi, Plum Soda, Yuzu & Pepper, Miso Soup, Brown Sugar and Apple Pie. Do any of those sound good to you?
If they don't then perhaps some of the Japanese Kit Kats that we actually have available might be more in line with your taste. We've currently got some delicious flavours such as Rum & Raisin, Strawberry Cheesecake and Kumamon Ikinari Dango! And who knows what we'll receive in the future...
|
|
| What do you think of these Japanese Snack Facts? Did you learn anything interesting?
If you did, or if you have any interesting Japanese Snack facts of your own, please let us know! You can leave us comments on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram! If you're a Tomodachi member, don't forget to REACT to this post using the buttons below to claim some free Tomodachi Points! Thanks for reading!
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