6 Weird Japanese Candies That You’d Never Believe Are Real

Japanese food attracts foodies from around the world with its delicious and unique cuisines.

In fact, before the tourism industry across the world was hit by Corona, Japan’s food tourism was booming. Sushi, Ramen, Tempura are some of the most common cuisines that are popular among people around the world. Tourists visiting Japan made it a point to relish the variety of foods available here. One must have also heard about Japanese raw fish cuisine which everyone may not endorse. There’s a lot more to it! If you are in Japan or have travelled to Japan you must have come across those endless Kitkat flavours from green tea, cheesecake to wasabi and what not. Also, if you haven’t heard about meat flavoured ice creams then you are yet to explore a lot about Japan. It doesn’t end there! It is also a haven of some of the most weird Japanese snacks and candies too. 

When we say candies, what one could think about at the most are chocolate candies, caramel candies, sugary candies or even sour ones. But Japanese people do not restrict themselves to this. Have you ever thought of having a sweetcorn with soy sauce flavoured candy or a foamy candy out of something that resembles a toilet seat. Yes, it is that weird! These weird Japanese candies are proof that Japanese people can go way beyond when it comes to creativity. Some of these weird Japanese candies may also look delicious from outside. But remember the famous phrase from Shakespere ‘all that glitters in not gold’. You will realise the authenticity of the phrase once you actually expose yourself to some of these candies. While some of these candies might just be the best to prank your friends the others might sound really wild and notorious. 

Also, there’s such a huge variety of these candies that you just need to specify your taste preference and it’s there. From sweet to sour, salty to savory and what not. Here’s a list of some of the most weird Japanese candies available.

Moko Moko Mokolet Toilet Candy

It comes as a DIY candy kit. When assembled together it forms a dollhouse-sized toilet bowl and a foamy sugary candy spilling out of it. One has to slurp the japanese candy with a straw directly from the toilet bowl. It has 8 different flavours that includes strawberry, Melon and Cola. One may also end up reusing the toilet bowl just as a showpiece or as a weird fancy pot for plants. 

Chocolate Covered Dried Squid 

Seafood and fishes are staples that make up for a large portion of the diet in Japan. Squids are very commonly used in Sushi and in other forms too. But the weirdest of them all is the chocolate Squid candy. Dried Squids are famous in Japan, they just went overboard with their creativity and covered the dried squid with chocolate on top. The dried squid with chocolate known as ‘ika’ in Japan could either be a winner for your taste buds or may just make you scream ‘gross’. 

Sasebo Burger Drops

Sasebo is a popular burger chain in Japan. They infused the Sasebo burger flavour into the sugar coated throat lozenges. There’s a variety of differently flavoured drops available in Japan. Which includes different types of fruits & food flavours. But the idea of mixing Sasebo burger and throat lozenge is the most talked about. 

Candied Baby Crabs

Also known as Tamagogani in Japan and is a popular japanese snack. These are little hermit crabs dried and baked. While you might find some with a chocolate coating on it the others might just be seen in the supermarket racks with some sugar coating. It has a fishy smell with a crunchy texture. 

Giant Jellyfish Candy 

Echizen Kurage also known as Nomura’s jellyfish. These Nomura’s jellyfishes are 6ft long and weigh approximately 440 lbs. These giant jellyfishes became a problem for Japan’s fishing industry. Though these fishes were edible but it was not very convincing for fish eaters because it wasn’t crunchy. So, then the students of Obama Fisheries proposed this new recipe. The Jellyfish was then boiled into a gooey paste and then dried to form a powder it was then mixed with sugar syrup to form this jellyfish candy. Though the candy looks and tastes similar to any normal salted caramel candy. 

Salted Salmon Puccho

Pucho is a chewy candy that comes in different fruity flavours. But this is the salmon version of the candy. It comes in two tones grey on top and pink on the bottom. It has real Salmon flakes stuffed inside the candy.

There’s a lot more that can be added to this list. Starting from drinks to chocolates, candies to japanese snacks, biscuits to crackers. The japanese hardly spared anything from their seafood experiments. Maybe the biggest reason behind it is they are surrounded by waters and have an abundance of seafood available in the country. So, why not experiment!