List of Japanese snacks facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Get ready to explore the yummy world of Japanese snacks! Japan has tons of delicious treats, from sweet candies to savory chips and unique rice balls. These snacks, called okashi (お菓子) in Japanese, are perfect for enjoying any time of day. Some are famous brands you might recognize, while others are traditional treats enjoyed for hundreds of years.

Types of Japanese Snacks

Sweet Bean Paste (Anko)

Anko is a special sweet paste made from beans, usually red beans. It's a popular ingredient in many Japanese sweets. People often enjoy anko treats with a cup of green tea in the afternoon. Many students in Japan love to eat these snacks after school.

Botamochi – A sweet rice ball covered in anko.
Daifuku – A soft mochi (rice cake) filled with anko.
- Ichigodaifuku [ja] – A daifuku with a whole strawberry inside!
Dorayaki – Two small pancakes wrapped around a filling of anko.
Manjū – A steamed bun, often with anko inside.
Monaka – Anko sandwiched between two thin, crispy wafers.
Imagawayaki – A round, grilled cake filled with anko.
Kusa mochi – A green mochi cake made with mugwort, often with anko.
Taiyaki – A fish-shaped cake, usually filled with anko.
Yōkan – A thick, jelly-like dessert made from anko.

Botamochi
Daifuku
Ichigo daifuku
Dorayaki
Imagawayaki
Taiyaki
Cut surface of taiyaki
Yōkan with chestnut

Bean Snacks

Many bean snacks are savory and often enjoyed with drinks.

Edamame – Young soybeans, usually boiled and lightly salted. They are a popular snack.
Soramame – Boiled broad beans.
Ikarimame [ja] – Fried broad beans, crunchy and tasty.

Edamame
Soramame
Ikarimame [ja]

Bread and Wheat Flour Snacks

These snacks are made from wheat flour and can be sweet or savory.

Popular Flour-Based Snacks

Karintō – A deep-fried snack made from brown sugar, crunchy and sweet.
Monjayaki – A savory pancake-like dish, often cooked at the table.
Okonomiyaki – A savory pancake filled with various ingredients like cabbage and meat.
Takoyaki – Small, round balls of batter filled with octopus, grilled until golden.

Karintō
Karintō in bottles
Monjayaki
Okonomiyaki
Takoyaki

Famous Brand Snacks

Hello Panda – Small biscuits with a creamy filling, shaped like pandas.
Kappa Ebisen – Light, crispy shrimp-flavored chips.
Koala's March – Koala-shaped biscuits with chocolate or other fillings.
Pocky – Thin biscuit sticks dipped in chocolate or other flavors. In Europe, they are known as Mikado.
Pretz – Savory pretzel sticks, often with different seasonings.
Yan Yan – Biscuit sticks that you dip into a creamy frosting.

Kappa Ebisen
Pretz
A package of regular Yan Yan

Candy

Japanese candies come in many fun shapes and flavors.

Traditional Candies

Amezaiku – Beautiful Japanese candy art, often shaped into animals or flowers.
Aruheitō [ja] – A type of hard candy, often shaped and colored.
Konpeitō – Small, colorful sugar candies with tiny bumps.
Ramune candy – Fizzy, compressed tablet candies that taste like the popular Ramune soda.

Amezaiku
Konpeitō
Ramune candy

Popular Candy Brands

Botan/Tomoe Ame – A sweet rice candy that melts in your mouth.
Calpis Candy – Candies flavored like the milky Calpis drink.
Chelsea (candy) [ja] – A creamy, buttery candy made by Meiji.
Cubyrop
gumi 100
Hi-chew – A chewy, fruity candy with a texture like taffy.
Milky (candy) [ja] – Soft, milky candies from Fujiya.
Pinky – Small, refreshing mints.
Poifull [ja] – Colorful, fruit-flavored jelly beans.
Puccho [ja] – Chewy candies with gummy bits inside.
Puré gumi candy – Gummy candy made with real fruit purée, from KANRO Co., Ltd.

Milky (candy) [ja]
Puccho [ja]

Cake Snacks

Tokyo Banana – A soft sponge cake filled with banana custard cream, a famous souvenir from Tokyo.

Chewing Gum

Japanese chewing gums come in many flavors and often have special features like breath freshening.

Black Black
Fuwarinka
Kiss Mint and Watering Kissmint
Let's
Plus X
Poscam
Pure White
Sweetie
whatta – Chewing gum by Meiji Confectionery.
Xylish
Yuzu

Corn Snacks

Curl (Japanese snack) – Light and puffy corn snacks.
Kyabetsu Taro – A popular savory corn snack, often flavored with sauce.

Chocolate Treats

Japan has many unique and delicious chocolate snacks.

Common Chocolate Types

Matcha chocolate – Chocolate that contains matcha (green tea powder), giving it a unique flavor.

Popular Chocolate Brands

Apollo (chocolate) [ja] – Small, cone-shaped chocolates that look like the Apollo command module.
Choco Baby [ja] – Tiny, tear-drop shaped chocolate candies.
Choco Ball [ja] – Small chocolate balls with a crunchy center.
Crunky [ja] – Chocolate bars with crispy puffed rice.
Crunky kids
DARS (chocolate) [ja] – Smooth, square chocolate pieces.
E-Royce'
Every Burger – Small, burger-shaped biscuits with chocolate and cream.
Kinoko no yama – Mushroom-shaped biscuits with chocolate caps. In the US, they are called CHOCOROOMS.
Koara no māchi – Koala-shaped biscuits with chocolate or other fillings.
Ghana – A popular brand of smooth, creamy chocolate.
Pocky – Thin biscuit sticks dipped in chocolate or other flavors.
Pucca Chocolate – Fish-shaped biscuits filled with chocolate.
Takenoko no sato [ja] – Bamboo shoot-shaped biscuits with chocolate. In the US, they are called CHOCOCONES.
Toppo – Pretzel sticks with chocolate filling inside.

Apollo (chocolate) [ja]
Choco Baby [ja]
Choco Ball [ja]
DARS (chocolate) [ja]
Pocky
Kinoko no yama
Takenoko no sato [ja]

Ice Cream and Shaved Ice

Perfect for cooling down, these frozen treats are very popular in Japan.

Classic Frozen Desserts

Green tea ice cream – Ice cream flavored with matcha, a unique Japanese taste.
Kakigōri – Shaved ice dessert, often topped with sweet syrup and condensed milk.
Mochi ice cream – Small balls of ice cream wrapped in a soft, chewy mochi shell.

Green tea ice cream
Green tea kakigōri (left) and strawberry flavoured kakigōri (right)
Mochi ice cream

Famous Ice Cream Brands

Choco Monaka Jumbo [ja] – A popular ice cream sandwich with chocolate and vanilla ice cream inside a crispy wafer, made by Morinaga & Company.
Panapp
Yukimi Daifuku – Mochi ice cream, often sold in a small, round shape.

Choco Monaka Jumbo [ja]
Yukimi Daifuku

Potato Snacks

From sweet potatoes to savory chips, these snacks are a favorite.

Traditional Potato Snacks

Ishiyakiimo – Roasted sweet potatos, often cooked over hot stones, a warm and comforting snack.
Kenpi – Sweet potato sticks, deep-fried and coated in sugar.

Ishiyakiimo
Kenpi

Popular Potato Chip Brands

Bōkun Habanero – Spicy potato chips with habanero pepper flavor.
Jagarico – Crunchy potato sticks, made by Calbee.
Kara Mucho and Suppa Mucho – Spicy and sour potato chips.
Kataage Potato – Thick-cut, extra-crunchy potato chips.
Pote Long [ja] – Long, hollow potato sticks, made by Morinaga & Company.
Wasabeef [ja] – Potato chips with a unique wasabi and beef flavor.
Ototo [ja] – Light, airy potato snacks shaped like different seafood.

Jagarico
Kara Mucho
Pote Long
Wasabeef

Rice Snacks

Rice is a main food in Japan, and it's also used to make many delicious snacks. Rice-based snacks are known as beika (米菓).

Onigiri – Also known as rice balls, these can be a snack or a small meal. In old Japan, samurai even ate large onigiri as food during wars!

Small onigiris convenient for snacks
In the Sengoku period and Edo period, onigiris were often wrapped in bamboo skin when carried. Bamboo skin helps keep rice balls fresh longer.
Modern onigiris wrapped in a small, clear plastic bag

Traditional Rice Snacks

Agemochi – Fried mochi (rice cakes), often savory.
Arare – Small, crunchy rice crackers, often flavored with soy sauce.
Botamochi – A sweet rice ball covered in anko.
Daifuku – A soft mochi (rice cake) filled with anko.
Dango – Sweet rice dumplings, often served on a skewer.
Kaki no tane – Small, crescent-shaped rice crackers, often eaten with peanuts.
Kaminari okoshi [ja] – A sweet, crispy snack made from puffed rice.
Kusa mochi – A green mochi cake made with mugwort.
Mochi – Chewy rice cakes, used in many snacks and desserts.
Senbei – Large, crispy rice crackers, usually savory.

Arare
Hanami dango
Kaki no tane
Kaminari okoshi [ja]
Senbei

Popular Rice Snack Brands

Bakauke – Crescent-shaped rice crackers with different flavors.
Olive no Hana
Onigiri senbei – Rice crackers shaped and flavored like onigiri.

Bakauke
Onigiri senbei

Seafood Snacks

Japan, being an island nation, has many snacks made from seafood.

Big Katsu – A fried fish cake snack, often flavored like pork cutlet.
Ebi senbei – Shrimp-flavored rice crackers.
Gyoniku soseji – A fish sausage made from surimi (fish paste).
Miyako Konbu – Dried kelp (seaweed) snacks.
Surume – Dried squid, a chewy snack.
Yotchan Ika – A popular dried squid snack.

Street Foods

When you walk through Japanese cities, you'll find many delicious snacks sold by street vendors.

Grilling yakitori

Dorayaki – Two small pancakes wrapped around a sweet filling.
Korokke – Japanese croquettes, often filled with mashed potato or cream.
Nikuman – Steamed buns filled with savory meat.
Ōbanyaki – A round, grilled cake similar to Imagawayaki, often with sweet fillings.
Taiyaki – A fish-shaped cake, usually filled with anko.
Takoyaki – Small, round balls of batter filled with octopus.
Yakitori – Skewered and grilled chicken pieces.

Mixed and Other Snacks

Ajigonomi – A mix of different savory snacks like rice crackers and nuts.
Don Tacos – Tortilla chips with a Japanese twist.

Snack Producers

Many companies make these tasty Japanese snacks. Here are some of the big ones:

Calbee
Glico
Kameda Seika
Koikeya
Kuriyama Beika
Lotte
Meiji
Morinaga
Tohato
Yamayoshi