SoraNews24 —Japan News—

After hearing that traditional Japanese sweets now come in the shape of lovable robot cat Doraemon, our food-loving writer Meg just had to give them a try!

Food & Drink, Japan
(cute • Doraemon • Japanese sweets • wagashi)

Combining the new Pocky and “Teagurt” brings you kisses and the taste of cheesecake

Oona McGee
Feb 24, 2016

These are just two of the reasons to love this awesome collaboration from Japan.

Food & Drink, Japan
(anime • apps • boys love • chocolate • Japanese sweets • love • Pocky • romance • snacks)

New take on traditional Japanese “osechi” is a sweet way to ring in the new year

Meg Murphy
Dec 26, 2015

Popular bakery Cozy Corner has created its own version of osechi, or traditional Japanese New Year’s food. What better way to start 2016 than with a box full of cute little cakes?

Japan
(dessert sweets • food • Ginza Cozy Corner • Japanese New Year • Japanese sweets)

Pocky to introduce new box designs for special occasions, including “Sukky” for Valentine’s Day

Oona McGee
Dec 21, 2015

Pocky packets receive a revamp with some…unusual…word amalgamations.

Japan
(chocolate • cute • funny • Glico • japanese snacks • Japanese sweets • Pocky • Sukky)

Gift-giving made easy! The most popular omiyage bought in Japan, station by station

Amy Chavez
Oct 28, 2015

Believe it or not, train stations are one of the best places to buy gifts in Japan. Train station omiyage (gifts brought back from your travels) are usually edible, representative of the local culture, and are well-received by everyone from colleagues at work to friends or neighbors.

Whereas in the west we tend to keep a person’s personality and their likes in mind when buying a gift, thankfully in Japan, it’s much easier—just buy what’s most popular! In convenient Japan, you’ll find most of the decisions already made for you, so all you have to do is decide how many pre-giftwrapped boxes you want of each item, and you’ll soon be on your way. You can even wait until you’re on the train to buy them from the vendor pushing their cart up and down the aisles on the Shinkansen.

While initially the array of train station omiyage may seem baffling (hundreds of choices!), in this article we whittle it down to the most popular picks; the things that anyone would love to receive. We’ll start in Hokkaido up in the north and move down the archipelago station by station, highlighting the most popular gifts sold at each bullet train station. At the end, we also offer some suggestions on what to purchase if you’re looking for souvenirs from Japan to take abroad.

Japan
(gift-giving • gifts • Japanese food • Japanese sweets • meibutsu • omiyage • souvenirs • travel)

Eat your eyeballs! Japanese traditional confectioner offers line of eye-grabbing Halloween sweets

Casey Baseel
Oct 7, 2015

With Japan’s growing love of Halloween, and it’s long-held affection for seasonal sweets, the country now gets a bumper crop of special desserts for the year’s spookiest holiday. So far, most of these have been Japanese brands of Western-style candies and cookies with a Halloween-themed package, or maybe with a limited-time pumpkin flavor, but one traditional Kawasaki-based confectionary chain is looking to change that with a lineup of edible eyeballs, zombie fingers, and other Japanese sweets that look bone-chilling and sound mouth-watering.

Japan
(cool • cute • halloween • Japanese sweets • kawasaki • scary • sweets)

Kyoto store makes embroidered badges, tests our knowledge of traditional Japanese sweets

Oona McGee
Sep 9, 2015

How well do you know your wagashi (Japanese sweets)? If you’re struggling to put a name to any of the traditional delectables pictured above, there’s a store in Kyoto that can help.

By creating decorative embroidered versions of some of Japan’s most popular confections, Kyoto-based Kyototo is giving us an education in the names and background of the hand-crafted treats that are often seasonal but always delicious. Come with us as we take a look at twelve of the most beautiful wagashi you can find in Japan.

Japan
(fashion • Japanese sweets • Kyoto • sweets • traditional • wagashi)

We try Japanese desserts made with bits of tuna. What could go wrong? 【Taste test】

Casey Baseel
Jun 25, 2015

Okay, Japan, I’m trusting you on this one. There have been a lot of times in the past when I was skeptical about your foods, and repeatedly you’ve proven me wrong.

You hit a home run with the raw fish thing. Pasta with spicy cod roe and seaweed? Now one of my go-to choices for a quick, hot meal. Grilled chicken cartilage? Stuff is delicious.

And now you want me to try desserts made with tuna? Sure, let’s do this.

Japan
(crazy • fish • food • Japanese sweets • Kanagawa • sushi • sweets • taste test • weird)

Japanese sweets lovers soon to be in their blue heaven with beautiful aqua-color Ramune dorayaki

Casey Baseel
May 28, 2015

Earlier this week, we took a look at some very gourmet blue chocolate ice cream. But what if you like your snacks sweet, blue, and Japanese in origin? Then you, adventurous/hard-to-please eater, need to get your hands on one of these aqua-colored sweet bean dorayaki cakes, with a flavor as unique as their vibrant hue.

Japan
(anko • dorayaki • food • Japanese sweets • sweets)

We spend a morning with an expert wagashi chef creating no-bake traditional Japanese sweets!

Kay
Apr 20, 2015

If you’re someone who enjoys making treats like cakes and pastries, then perhaps you have first hand knowledge of how baking can sometimes be a tricky affair. Well, in Japan, we have a whole category of wagashi, or traditional Japanese sweets, that aren’t baked at all, called namagashi (literally, “raw confectionaries”). Namagashi are typically made from various colorful bean pastes and often crafted into delicate seasonal-themed shapes.

Earlier this month, we participated in a seminar to experience what namagashi-making is like. Join us as we see how a master chef creates beautiful flowers from bean paste, and then try our not-so-expert hand at creating our own confections!

Japan
(cooking • cultural seminar • culture • food • Japanese sweets • Shinnichiya • sweets • wagashi)

We steel our hearts and sample Namikoshiken’s too-cute-to-eat, aquarium-themed wagashi sweets

Megumi Matsuki
Dec 15, 2014

Do you remember our recent article that showcased Japanese confectioner Namikoshiken’s adorable menagerie of bite-sized manjū (sweet steamed buns)? Last week, out of sheer luck and coincidence, I received a box of the Suizokukan (aquarium) variety from a family friend who went on a trip to Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, where the 87-year-old company is based. So of course, this calls for a taste test!

Read on to find out more about the wagashi treats and to view close-up photos of each lovable suizokukan resident. Was this writer able to harden her heart and mercilessly sink her teeth into these little guys? Anything for RocketNews24!

Japan
(cute animals • food • Japanese sweets • Kawaii • Nagoya • wagashi)

Japanese sweets maker’s edible zoo and aquarium is filled with creatures almost too cute to eat!

Kay
Dec 1, 2014

Okay, we know we’ve already introduced on our site countless Japanese treats which we think are irresistibly cute, but once again, we’ve found a little sweet something that we just had to share with you. Take a look at these lines of confectioneries sold by Japanese sweets maker Namikoshiken — they’re called the “Zoo” (dobutsuen) and “Aquarium” (suizokukan) series of sweet steamed buns, and when you see the confections, we think you’ll understand why.

Yes, the zoo and aquarium packages are a collection of animals and critters alright, and the only problem is that they just may look almost too cute to eat!

Japan
(confectioneries • cute • Japanese sweets • Namikoshiken • wagashi)

Gunma-chan candy is adorable, probably as sweet as the mascot’s national championship

Casey Baseel
Nov 8, 2014

Gunma-chan, Gunma Prefecture’s regional mascot, or yuru-kyara, may not have the most creative name. The cap-wearing horse more than makes up for that shortcoming with cuteness, though, and was recently named the winner of the nationwide Yuru-Kyara Grand Prix popularity contest.

The championship is the culmination of a long campaign for Gunma-chan, who finished in 18th place in 2011, before spending two years stalled in the number three spot.

Having now reached the top of the yuru-kyara world, it’s time for Gunma-chan to savor the sweet taste of victory, and time for everyone else to savor the sweet taste of Gunma-chan candy.