Top 10 Amazing Japanese Potato Chips You Must Try!

Looking for the perfect Japanese snacks for movie night with friends? We highly recommend checking out these amazing potato chips from Japan!

Now, Japan is home to some of the most delicious —  and creative —  types of potato snacks. These are our top 10 Japanese potato snacks you must try at least once!

1. Calbee (カルビ) —  The Most Popular Japanese Potato Chips 

Calbee frequently ranks at the top of Japan’s snack food polls. Part of the reason for the brand’s popularity is its dozens of chip flavors, like mentaiko (spicy cod roe), soy sauce, butter, and pizza. Not to mention, Calbee even came out with 47 chip flavors, one for each prefecture of Japan!

According to a poll, among Japanese, Calbee’s three most popular types are “Light”, Seaweed-Salt, and “Consomme Punch” (a light meat-broth flavor very common in Japanese snacks). Calbee is so big that they recently opened a store dedicated to their snacks in Harajuku: Calbee Plus!

2. Koike-ya (湖池屋) — Calbee’s Greatest Rival

Every good shonen anime protagonist must have their rival. And if chips were anime, Koike-ya would be challenging Calbee to a fight right about now! Koike-ya’s seaweed-salt and lightly salted flavors are especially popular, sometimes even higher than Calbee’s!

Moreover, they have developed a new manufacturing process called “pride potato,” which uses only domestic ingredients. Who will win this battle? Only time can tell!

3. Chipstar (チップスター) —  Japan’s Answer to Pringles 

Chipstar chips have been popular in Japan since 1976. They are softer than the usual chip, with a dusting of flavoring on their surface, which melts on the tongue. Like Pringles, Chipstar Chips come in tubes. However, unlike Pringles, they come in plenty of Japanese potato chip flavors, like soy sauce butter and plum-nori.

The chips are made only of pure potato flakes and water, with no additives to hold them together. Their cooking process uses less oil than the usual chip since they are not fried, which makes them good Japanese potato snacks for the health-conscious. To learn more about the many types of Chipstar chips, check out this article!

Can’t decide which of these Japanese potato snacks you want to try? Tokyo Treat’s snack box has you covered, sending you new types every month!

4. Jagabee (じゃがビー)  —  Fries X Chips

The jaga in Jagabee comes from Jaga-imo, the Japanese word for potato. And they are the quintessential Japanese potato snacks — a combination of chips and french fries.

Generally, to create the classic Jagabee shape, potatoes are sliced into rectangles and deep-fried. Jagabee’s rectangular shape makes them easier to hold than regular chips, and they are sold in a cup, so they get your fingers less oily than a typical bag of chips.

Jagabee’s mainstay flavors are lightly salted, “happy” butter (a combination of honey, butter, parsley, and mascarpone), soy sauce butter, herb-salt, and “grand fromage” (a blend of cheeses). All in all, these flavors are amazing and delicious!

5. Jaga Pokkuru (じゃがポックル)  —  Upscale Potato Sticks

Jaga Pokkuru is the more sophisticated sibling of the Jagabee. The crispy fries are made only of potatoes sourced from Hokkaido, a region famous for the crop. The potatoes are sliced thicker than Jagabee potatoes, and the skins are kept on for added texture and a natural flavor.

The slices are then kettle-cooked, and salted with salt from the Okhotsk region, to create a snack highlighting the high quality of its ingredients.  Jaga Pokkuru is sold exclusively in Hokkaido or online.

6. Jagariko (じゃがりこ)  —  A New Kind of Japanese Potato Snack

Jagariko is different in texture than all the other spud sticks on this list. They are unique because of their production process. To create Jagariko, potatoes are steamed and smashed, and then flavoring is added to the dough. Finally, the dough is formed into sticks and deep-fried.

This process gives the snack a lighter, airier texture than Jagabee and Jaga Pokkuru. Also, since the flavoring is mixed directly into the sticks before the cooking process, they have more depth of flavor. Jagariko comes in many of the same flavors as Calbee’s normal chips.

7. Kata-age Potato (堅あげポテト)  —  “Hard-Boiled” Chips

The name kata-age translates to hard-fried, or as Calbee themselves translates it, “hard-boiled,” that’s just what these chips are. The chips are cut thicker than usual, so they have more bite and are kettle-cooked, which gives them a hint of smokiness. Some of Kata-age Potato’s most popular flavors are black pepper, garlic, and plum. 

8. Yaki-Imo (焼芋) —  Roasted Sweet Potatoes

In Japan, whole roasted sweet potatoes are eaten straight and unseasoned as a snack. Convenience stores and supermarkets have cases filled with gently cooked sweet potatoes. The long cooking time increases the potato’s sweetness, causing the sugars to caramelize. Sweet potatoes are so beloved here that Starbucks made a sweet potato frappuccino last year! 

9. Hokkaido Rich Butter Chips (北海道リッチバター味)  —  A Taste of the North

The brand Yamayoshi has created chips that combine two of Hokkaido’s specialties: potatoes and butter. The chips are made from 100% Hokkaido-sourced potatoes for the genuine taste of the region. They are then coated in butter for a taste reminiscent of Hokkaido’s buttered potatoes.

10. Royce’s Chocolate Potato Chips (ポテトチップチョコレート)  —  Luxury Japanese Potato Chips

“Luxury chips” sounds like an oxymoron, but that’s just what these are. Royce is a brand from Sapporo, Hokkaido, specializing in high-quality chocolate. Its chocolate-coated potato chips elevate the simple snack to something truly luxurious.

One side of these chips is coated in rich milk chocolate, while the other is salted for a lovely sweet-salty mix. Royce has also come out with caramel, fromage blanc, and mild bitter chocolate flavors. Which potato chips are your favorite! Let us know in the comments below!