Japanese Snack Market Vs. American Snack Market

It seems like everyone loves a good snack and it doesn't matter where you're from, those treats between meals seem to be universally enjoyed.

However there are some significant differences in what types of snacks are considered enjoyable from one country to another.

On this page we're going to look at some of the similarities and differences between the Japanese snack market and the American snack market.  

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In America we like our fat, carbs, and salt. Our favorite snacks are things like popcorn and potato chips and if you cover your popcorn in butter you are getting all three of those, the fats, carbs, and salt. We also enjoy a lot of snacks that are not very salty, things like cookies, and ice cream.

In Japan, people enjoy a lot of snacks that are very much like the ones we enjoy in America. The cookies, candy, ice cream etc. But they also enjoy some snacks that many Americans would consider strange and some things that we might consider downright disgusting.

As an example of one of the snacks we enjoy in America that is also relished in Japan is the Kit Kat bar. Although in Japan they have dozens of different flavors of Kit Kats available. In addition to the chocolate covered wafer cookies that we enjoy they also have Kit Kats that are strawberry flavored, green tea flavored and even a soy sauce flavoured Kit Kat bar.

 
Some other snacks and treats that are common in Japan that we might consider a bit weird are things like wasabi and beef flavored chips, scallops and mayonnaise flavored chips, and meat flavored ice cream. Then you get into the things that many Americans would consider disgusting. In Japan some people enjoy octopus ice cream. Another common snack is dried hermit crabs that people munch on like potato chips. The dried hermit crabs are called Tamagogani which roughly translated means baby crab.

As you can see there are quite a few differences between the American and the Japanese snack markets. In Japan, they enjoy many things that Americans snack on but they don't stop with just the fatty, salty, and carbohydrate rich foods that we enjoy. They are much more adventurous and eat some things that Americans would never dream of eating.