Weird Snacks from Japanese Convenience Stores

While I was over there, my favorite snack food had to be Glico Collon. The only way I could describe them that Americans would know is they were little hollow corn pillows with a whipped cream in them (like donut filling). Very good.

Another favorite of mine was Melon soda (suntory and fanta both really good). To Americans, this is not watermelon, it is more like a honeydew taste. I think Japanese call them Muskmelons. Anyway, the taste is really good. Much better than the drink flavors we have here.

I agree with the other commenter, I miss melon soda. It was amazing! I especially loved the colour of it.

Snack wise, I was addicted to milk bread, particularly the ones from family mart (the panda one). They are really sweet and fluffy.

The mochi and dried squid sound really good though!!

(side note: Is that DJ Ozma in the first pic???)

I have to say, I devoured the Onigiri every time I could. I don't think I could ever get enough of it. But I also liked the fried Ika and the little Gelatin Jello cups too. Japan had too much good snack food, I couldn't eat it all.

Wow, delicious...

I did so love the shredded dried squid it was great with Japanese suntory whiskey. Although I also loved the iced coffee and the Yakisoba served in bars just down form my duty station Tori Station

Please tell me those aren't real turtle shells.

This is an excellent series of images to post here

I love japanese food soo much

I've had the Pancake in a Bag. My Japanese teacher told me that it was chocolate, but I figured out that it wasn't about half way through when I found a few beans still intact.

Not that it's weird, but, I really miss my Milk Tea, and Kimchii Ramen!!! Yum Yum!!

My favorite are Taro Mochi... or better yet, Taro Buns! Soooo good ^-^

I am living in Japan. I love dorayaki (the fried pancake things you put in). And taiyaki.

AGE AGE?

Sweetness I love Ozma.

Hi,

I am living in Japan now, and I have to agree I love Milk Tea from the vending machines.

I also can't live without Hi-Chew candy, I don't know if you can get it in USA but I love it so much.

The only thing unique is the turtle shell sembei, the other stuff you can get anywhere in Japan.

When my husband and I went on vacation in Tokyo, we drank these fantastic drinks from vending machines that were like pureed fruit. I don't know the names of them, but they came in pouches in different flavors, and you stuck a straw through them to puncture the pouch. They were just like pureed fruit, like banana, mango, guava, papaya. They were wonderful. But everything we ate in Tokyo was wonderful!

I like Wasabi peas & Rice crackers wrapped in Nori.
I can usually find both in the "international" section of any large supermarket.
Both can be seen in the mix, on that "Topvalu" bag of minnows & nuts. s);o)

I enjoyed the Pork or pizza filled steamed buns, the plain tuna filled Onigiri. the caramel mochi and of course the Lawson's Soy burgers and soy cheese burgers

I was stationed in Camp Hansen, near Kin Village and I REALLY miss the Taco, Rice and Cheese. I have tried to recreate at home but can do it. Does anyone have a original Japanese reciepe for this? Thank you very much.

I had that pancake thing at the cherry blossom festival in San Francisco and it was so delicious. I was actively seeking out the weirdest food they had there, and the bean-filled pancakes were a win. It also had this ridiculously long line--by far the longest line at the whole festival, so I had HIGH expectations. They didn't disappoint!

Hardly any of this food is weird.
Most of it is pretty goood.

These foods are not weird at all. I think the guy who made this page is ignorant of japanese culture.

I remember when I first came to Japan, most all of those seemed pretty weird. Now looking at this list just made me hungry!

i love collon, especially the name! melon pan is good, as well as hello panda. there was this thing that was like ice cream inside a waffleish thing, that tasted like one of those cake cones! i love japanese food!i also love mochi.

I love japanese food! Pocky is bout the only thing i get here in canada and is highly over rated compared to other japanese sweets. I mostly go to okinawa whenever I go to japan.

When I lived in Japan, most of my food came from the Lawson on the corner of my street. The one thing I loved to eat, which isn't weird, were the sandwiches. I especially likes they were wrapped where you could just pull a tab and the entire things opens up. I'd also occasionally eat the peanut butter or egg salad sandwiches. These were basically standard sandwiches with the crust removed and the ends pinched together to make a nice little pocket. What I loved the most were the drinks. They had nearly every fruit juice or fruit-flavored tea imaginable. A common drink from the vending machines was this grape and vinegar juice. It sounded ridiculous when a friend offered me one, but I was hooked after the first bite. I think the weirdest food I had in Japan was squid-ink pasta...though I have a feeling this is common in other parts of the world...not sure. Great article!

My favourite Japanese snack food has to be Takoyaki~ It's like balls of batter each with a small part of octopus inside. It needs to be made in a special pan. It's served with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, bonito and sprinkled with a little seaweed. I think there's more but I can't really remember them right now =.=
Green Tea Ice Cream, Dango, Anmitsu and Okonomiyaki are also some of my other favourites!~

A lot of these foodstuffs you can get here (in The Netherlands) as well. In fact; the chocolate covered waffle is in any supermarket and neighbourhood shop; the waffle is a Belgian invention. Also the red bean pancakes are some of my favourites, I've been eating them for years, though they are hard to come by. But whenever I find any, I buy loads. I've also tried coffee filling, matcha filling and something yellow, I can't remember what it was.
The 'Minnows and nuts'; those nuts are also widely available here, made by European manufacturors and are usually called 'Japanese mix'.
And the last picture: SPAR is a Dutch chain of supermarkets! :D I've seen some in Ireland and Norway and I've heard of them existing in Canada, but I'd never heard of them moving to Japan! :D I'd recognise the font 'SPAR' is written in anywhere. ^^

Love them all now I am stoned want them all NOW!!! YUMMM!

To classify cuisines that are different as your own is simply ignorant and food. While I appreciate and respect your interest in sharing your experiences in Japan with the world. It is rude to alienate and/or look down on these foods just because they are different from what your standards of what regular are.

I've had some Japanese snack foods--my favorite are mochi. But some of the ones you listed just make me go... huh? Especially those whole crabs... but I guess it's a cultural thing?

Great selection and I do like most on the list apart from dried squid which is a popular snack :)

I gotta just say that Asians in general are just the best when it comes to food and snack items. There are so many amazing things to sample and things that just looks cool to eat. Taco sushi is a fantastic idea, I'm about to try making some!

The deep friend quails eggs look delicious. Love the photos and the detail you give about the different foods. I'm starving now! Such an insight into different tastes and preferences. Excellent post! :O) @Chaoskay ps. Your Captcha hates me.

LMAO at the minnow comment. Pretty sure those are baby sardines or a similar fish. Jpnse don't eat minnows, LOLOLOL! They are very particular, as you well know, about their fish. But I want to know how many of them died way back when before they figured out how to separate the poison from fugu!

Fugu me, now! --- Homer Simpson

why is that?
care to explain?
i would be curious!!
:)

Is English your first language? Perhaps you did not mean to make it sound like it was coming from an ignorant redneck's point-of-view, but that is exactly what I read it as. Or perhaps was this meant to be targeted towards extremely ignorant people, who wouldn't even know what sushi is? Take care in how you introduce certain items, especially when you say it's "to Americans", like me, who live in urban areas who know what these things are. The fact that you've classified them as weird makes it seem like I'm ignorant because I'm American.