Snacks / Drinks

For some reason, Japan is a test-bed for all kinds of wacky junk food. Pepsi and Coke compete with each other to release weirder variations on their core product every year (Pepsi cucumber? Coke Fiber?). Kit Kat produce hundreds of different flavors in addition to the standard, ranging from the reasonable (Peach, Strawberry), to the downright bizarre (Soy Sauce, Cherry Blossom).

Are Japanese stomachs simply more fickle than others? More demanding? More in love with all that is new, shiny, and full of sugar? You decide.

Sarah Jessica Parker Coke	Sparkling Boysenberry

They love Sarah Jessica Parker in Japan. When Sex and the City came out in Tokyo the city was fire-stormed with advertising.	Japan loves Kit Kats, and exotic flavored drinks, and happily enough so do you and me, so let’s get down to some serious snack deconstruction.

Friend Bakery	Kid`s Beer

A tasty nibble I snacked upon in Kyushu- though probably available all over Japan. Just smack your surf-board sleeping friend over the head and bake her into a biscuit.	I’ve always said more things should have beer in them. Beer is after all one of the 5 food groups, along with rye, barley, gin, and malt liquor.

Melon Cream Soda	Orange Soy Sauce

Sometimes you just need a melon. Here is an example of a time you might need a melon: You’re hungry, and thirsty, and want to eat a melon.	Soy Sauce is ubiquitous in Japan- the Japanese splash it on everything with gay abandon: fried fish, chicken bones, california rolls, potatoes, ice cream, tea.

Kiwi Pocky	Beer Drops

Pocky have been coming in a wild and weird range of souped-up flavors for decades- I myself have witnessed creme brulee, deep-sea tuna, etchttp://www.michaeljohngrist.com	As we all know- sometimes liquid beer just doesn’t cut it. Sometimes you have a thirst so deep and true that only a solid will really cut to the chase.

Hello Kitty Mineral Water	Dissidia Potions

Yum yum yum, who wouldn’t pay 400 yen for a sexy bottle of water? Wait, I forgot- a sexy/kawaii (cute!) bottle of Hello Kitty water?	Dissidia is the latest mano-a-mano fighting game in the Final Fantasy continuum, to be released by Square Enix on December 18th. It sounds totally cool.

Pepsi Yoghurt	Japanese Space Food

For the past week everybody has been blogging about Pepsi White, Pepsi’s new Yoghurt flavored Pepsi drink.	You’re in space. The trip up took 8 hours- most of which involved you sitting sideways strapped into a second-hand shuttle waiting for air traffic control.

Vegetable Alcohol	Japanese Push Pops

Japan-based companies Asahi (the brewer) and Kagome (the fruit and veg juicer) have teamed up to present us with a new and unique product: a range of fruit and vegetable sake cocktails.	When I was a kid in England we had these. To have a Push Pop was a total status symbol.

2008 Summit Mineral Water	Acerola and Lemon

Lots of things get politicized in life. Rock has been political for a long time- Band Aid, Live Aid, U2 are heavy into politics.	Acerola and lemon, yum yum. It’s so delicious that stars will come out of your mouth.

Triple Berry Kit Kat	Brazilian Pocky, Blue Hawaiian Pepsi

Kit Kat in Japan exemplify the gad-fly product life-cycle model that rules the confectionery business here, in that they constantly release colorful new but very short-lived product variants.	This snack-cocktail should be aided by the fact that Blue Hawaii actually IS a cocktail, or takes the name of a cocktail. Pepsi, I salute you.

Beer and Bean Pretz	Walky Walky

Beer and beans go hand in hand in Japan. In bean season (spring) you can’t go to an izakaya (bar/restaurant) without having eidamame (spring beans) thrust upon you.	I know when I take my hippo for a walk I entice it along with chocolate.