As a Japanese, I would like to introduce Japanese famous snacks (or rice crackers), which can be easily found at the seven-eleven or supermarkets all over Japan, with cheap price. I like them all and once you come to Japan, please try these famous, long-selling Japanese snacks!
Onigiri Senbei
Onigiri means “rice ball”, senbei means “rice cracker” so it basically means “rice ball cracker” in Japanese. It tastes like soy sauce and “dashi”, which is very important for Japanese food. It is hard to explain how dashi tastes like, you’ll see it when you try!
The company called “Masuya”, established in 1965 (its head office is located in Ise City, Mie Prefecture), is producing this unique Onigiri Senbei. Onigiri Senbei was born in 1969; in 2019 the company is celebrating 50th anniversary of Onigiri Senbei. It is one of the most popular snacks in Japan, with the long history.
Many Japanese people loved Onigiri Senbei when they were small kids (I remember we sometimes had the school excursion and we were allowed to bring a small amount of snacks, and many students were brining Onigiri Senbei!)
Kappa Ebisen
Kappa Ebisen was born in 1964, by the famous company “Calbee” founded in 1949, in Hiroshima Prefecture. Calbee has many famous products such as “potato chips” and “Jagariko”, but Kappa Ebisen has the longest selling history of over 50 years.
Apparently Kappa Ebisen has been sold internationally for quite a while now. “Ebisen” means “shrimp rice cracker” or more like “chips” ; in English it is called “Shrimp Flavored Chips”.
Kappa Ebisen is unique as it is using shrimps in an entire shell; Kappa Ebisen tastes amazing!
There are many limited flavours sold time to time; for example, there are Takoyaki flavoured Kappa Ebisen apparently, only sold in the Kansai area (Kansai area includes Kyoto, Nara and Osaka etc.) If you’re lucky, you might be able to find all the different, limited version of Kappa Ebisen, perfect for the souvenirs!
Umai Bo
Umai Bo, Umai means “delicious” and “Bo” means “stick” in Japanese. It is a cylindrical corn snack, sold by the company called “Yaokin”, and produced by the company called “Riska”. Umai Bo was born in 1979, and in 2019 it is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
It is very popular not only for its cheap price (it is 10 yen!), but also it has many unique kinds of flavours, such as cheese, takoyaki, chicken curry, chocolate, corn potage and more!
As a child, I always wondered why Umai bo has a hole in the centre; I checked its official website and there was an answer for it. Because of the hole inside, Umai Bo wouldn’t crack easily, and also a hole would improve the texture, making it crunchier.
You can try all the different tastes and see which ones you like the best!
Age Ichiban
Age Ichiban is fried rice crackers, flavoured with soy sauce, sugar and honey etc. Age Ichiban is delicious, I think many non-Japanese people would also like the taste of it.
The company called “Kameda Seika” is producing Age Ichiban since 1985; Kameda Seika is one of the biggest rice crackers companies in Japan. It was founded in 1946 in Niigata Prefecture, where is famous for the rice production. Since its foundation, it has produced many famous rice crackers including “Kakinotane” (born in 1966) and “Happy Turn” (born in 1976), both are very popular rice crackers among Japanese people for a decade. (I like Kakinotane, especially the wasabi flavoured ones. It is very spicy, so if you like wasabi, it also is worth trying.)
Caramel Corn
Many of you might think “caramel corn” as popcorn coated with a sugar (caramel popcorn) but I’m talking about different “Caramel Corn” here.
Caramel Corn, produced by the company called Tohato in Tokyo, was born in 1971. It has very sweet taste, with light and soft texture; the main ingredients are corn grits and sugar. There are also salted, roasted peanuts packed inside so you can enjoy both sweet and salty tastes.
Caramel Corn also has the limited flavoured version, such as cheese and so on, depending on the season.
You can find more..
I introduced Onigiri Senbei, Kappa Ebisen, Umai Bo, Age Ichiban, Kakinotane, Happy Turn and Caramel Corn as a most famous Japanese snacks. They are all long-selling famous, have been very popular in Japan over a decade. I hope you like them, and hope you find some favourite Japanese snacks here.
