5 Best "Dagashi" To Try

Looking for a kawaii snack for a souvenir? “Dagashi” might be a best solution!

What is Dagashi

Dagashi is a cheap candies and snacks in Japan. There are a lot of different kinds of dagashi. Chocolate, candy, gum, dried seafood… and so on! They usually cost less than ¥100. It’s cheap enough for children can afford with their pocket money. Many Japanese feel nostalgic on those colorful candies.

Where you can buy Dagashi

You can get dagashi every where! The easiest place to buy them are in convenience stores and supermarkets. Also there are a traditional candy shop called 駄菓子屋【dagashiya】. Visiting dagashiya will be a fun experience during your trip in Japan.

5 Best “Dagashi” To Try

1. うまい棒【Umaibou】

Literally means “delicious stick”. It’s kind of a puffed corn snacks and there are a lot of different kinds of flavors. For instance, corn potage, which is the most popular, mentaiko (spicy cod roe), takoyaki, teriyaki burger, cheese and so on!

Price: 10 yen each

2. ビッグかつ【Big Katsu】

A dagashi taste like tonkatsu but it is not made of pork. Actually, it is made of fish and squid. Though it really tastes like tonkatsu. Also, there are some recipe using this dagashi to cook katsu-don!

Price: 30 yen

3.ミニコーラ【mini cola】/ミニサイダー【mini sider】

A kind of popular candy called ラムネ 【ramune】. Because it is an original kind of candy in Japan, it’s hard to explain in English. If anything, it is a porous and chalky soft candy. Also, there is a soda pop which has the same name, ramune in Japan…. A little bit confusing. There are many ramune candy sold in Japan. And this mini cola series is popular for their cute miniature canned juice package. The inside ramune each taste like coke and soda pop as their package are designed.

Price: 30 yen each

4. 蒲焼さん太郎【kabayakisan-taro】/わさびのり太郎【wasabinori-taro】

This dagashi is made of fish meet molded into sheeting. This series has other flavor such as wasabi (in the photo above), yakiniku, okonomiyaki, sudako (pickled octopus) and so on. The most popular one is kabayaki sauce flavor (similar to teriyaki sauce). Kabayaki is a glaze-grilled Japanese eel which is one of the expensive Japanese food. This dagashi is the only one snack you can taste kabayaki with 10 yen!

Price: 10 yen each

5. こざくら餅【kozakura-mochi】

A cute small and colorful dagashi is similar to mochi (race cake). Mochiko (rice flour) are used to make them a little chewy. Even the name is kozakura”mochi”, actually it is not mochi and Japanese still don’t know what they are but love them. There is a toothpick in the package and to use it to eat them. There are many similar product and various flavor.

Price: 30 yen