Japanese ‘dagashi‘ refers to a multiple range of small and affordable sweet and savory snacks – primarily aimed at children. These can include chocolate treats, hard candies, gum, gummies, picked fruit, corn snacks, dried sea food, crackers and ramen snacks. These Japanese penny sweets became very popular after the second world war as a way for children to spend their pocket money, and enjoy a tasty treat, but dagashi have been around since the 1600’s. And with their quirky, colourful and retro packaging, still appeal to children and adults alike today.
Specialist stores called dagashiya used to sell vast arrays of the sweets and snacks, along with toys and other fun things, however, most dagashi now is bought at supermarkets and convenience stores…or in my case, online.
The best part about dagashi is that you can pick n mix and try a variety of treats and flavours for such a low price, usually under ¥100 (which is around 72p)!
This selection was gifted to me at xmas – unfortunately I wasn’t given a list, or a translation, of what they exactly say, but by sheer taste alone, this is what I had…!
1x strawberry centred marshmallow
1x coffee centred marshmallow (but I think I think it tasted just like chocolate)
1x lemon drop
1x piece of blue bubble gum (that turned your tongue blue)
1x pickled plum (called Tanenashi Hoshiume)
1x grape flavoured gummy
1x crispy, chocolate flavoured cereal stick
1x twisted marshmallow (like a Flump)
1x blister pack of chocolate beans (like Smarties)
My favourite by far was the chocolate cereal stick – satisfyingly crunchy with plenty of cocoa flavour in a fun star-shaped design. I also have a soft spot for soft marshmallows, so all three appealed to my sweet tooth with their own sweet, chewy texture.
However, the pickled plum was a revelation! Having never tried one before – at first it tastes like any piece dried piece of fruit – it has a good chew and fruity taste, then suddenly it turns incredibly sweet and then super sour in the mouth, with a slightly salty undertone! This was really fun to try with such a unique flavour.
The smell from the grape gummy was very strong, but being fond of grape candy I didn’t find this or the taste overpowering, and despite it’s small size, had a great, slightly firm, stretchy chew. The chocolate beans however don’t match up to the British Smarties, and the gum and lemon drop are quite similar to candies that I’m familiar with over here.
My first experience of sweet Japanese dagashi was a really enjoyable one – it was almost like a mystery pick n mix (as I only had a vague clue by looking at the wonderful graphics about what I was about to try). It was very much a miniature sweet buffet for both the eyes and the tongue!
If you’re able to translate my wrappers, then please let me know what they say! Or if I’ve mis-identified any dagashi, please correct me – knowledge is power!
The British Candy Connoisseur 