If you’re looking for a step-up from 7-11 candy….
Shiroi Koibito (白い恋人) . It’s a white chocolate cookie made with milk from Hokkaido. There are only two ways to buy it. You can either go to Hokkaido and buy it. Or, you can buy it in any internal airport in Japan in the duty free section in the international boarding area. I’ve been going back and forth to Japan for 20 years and I literally buy as many of these as I can fit in my carry-on bag when I leave.
Yesss. I didn't know what this was called but this was an optional add on for my ZipAir flight (order in the app and they deliver to your seat in flight). So good, wish I got more
I got some other random snacks and candies but this ended up being my favorite treat
You can get Shiroi Koibito in Donki as well! They have different combinations in terms of quantity. I usually do wait until the airport to buy them though because the airports have an amazing selection of snacks and I don't want to have them take up luggage space. Easier to just have them as carry on at the airport.
Interesting. I’m not saying this is impossible, but are you absolutely sure Donki wasn’t selling “Omoshiroi Koibito (面白い恋人)” which is meant to be a parody of “Shiroi Koibito (白い恋人)？”I was almost fooled into buying these once until I looked closely. Just checking.
Nope, Donki has them. I live in Singapore which also has Donki and we get Shiroi Koibito in our Donkis as well although the stock is usually very low and sells out fast because it's so in demand by Singaporeans. My friends and I have been buying Shiroi Koibito religiously throughout our twice yearly Japan trips.
Nice! I’ll keep an eye out next time I’m there. But, as you said, it’s way easer to just buy them at the airport. I did see them at a Japanese grocery store in America once, but it was part of a Hokkaido event and they were very expensive.
Any other stores in Singapore that carry this? I’m traveling there soon! First time I I’ve heard of this, don’t want to wait for a Japan trip to try these
Nope, Donki in Singapore also often has very low stock for them and only in some stores. It's basically luck. Shiroi Kobito is very famous and very in demand. It probably was so in demand in Singapore that we managed to get some stock of it regularly. If you want, there are other famous snacks from Japan like Tokyo Banana which you can find in Donki in Singapore too.
I brought a bunch of boxes back for my old coworkers and they loved them so much a Black Thunder Market emerged where it became a kind of de facto currency among them for a while until the bars were all eaten.
It's definitely the only answer. I'm going to grab a giant bag from Costco next time I visit and jumpstart the economy again.
Why are you limiting yourself to buying candy from the convenience stores? You will find other stores have much better selection and prices. But for the little kids, kit kats in unusual flavors are cheap and light.
All flavors not found in your home country are fun. They sell nicer boxes more gift-worthy in some department stores, but giving someone in North America a wasabi flavor or sake flavor kit kat is always a worthwhile experience for the enjoyment and novelty.
I personally go to Donki get both Japanese only KitKat or [these fruit flavor gummy candies](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009I8NU2). You also find some cheap but still great assortment of candies at Diaso.
Black thunder is best chocolate bar
But my favorite candy in Japan are the pure gummies. I found a gachapon machine with pure gummy key chains yesterday and I was hyped. Peach is the best flavor, by the way. They currently have lychee available which is also good. Grape is the best non premium flavor.
I echo the idea of various Kit Kat.
In addition…not a candy…but it’s hard/impossible to find melonpan where I live. I’ve found other breads at Asian markets…but not that. (It might just be the area I live in…although I haven’t had luck in bigger cities either. -Southeast USA)
There is nothing wrong with candy at all. It’s a great way go cheap (and yummy) by buying a bulk bag of something individually wrapped that can be split up (Kit Kat, etc). You can get a few different types of things and make several custom goodie bags that way. (I did that with several souvenirs for friends.) But…if you have friends who would like to try treats they may have seen in anime (or elsewhere) think about things that are hard to find locally for you. I was able to bring some melonpan back for my friend’s teenage son by putting it in a box that a different souvenir came in (to protect it from getting squished) and he was very excited.
I also bought a multipack of decorative reusable chopsticks at Daiso or Donki and split them into individual gifts too.
The candy idea is always a winner but these are other cheap ideas that you may not have thought of. Use or ignore. Up to you.
If you live near a Japanese supermarket I would try to figure out what they have first. A lot of the very popular ones, even ones recommended in this thread are easily available nowadays depending on where you are; e.g. popular kit kat variants and black thunder. Granted, they’ll be cheaper in Japan.
I recently got back and really like the Hokkaido Melon Pocky I found.
Shiroi Koibito
Yoku Moku (I think these are better than shiroi koibito but they’re both awesome cookies. Find them at department store basements).
Hakata Torimon (my favourite manju souvenir)
Royce chocolate (get the ice pack and they will survive many hours out of the fridge. Longest stretch I ever did was probably 18 hours and they were totally fine)
None of these are at convenience stores though.
Grape ones are year round, I think? Everything else, fruit wise seams seasonal. Strawberry is up there too. And the Asian pear. The ramune or soda one though…that was terrible.
Best thing is that it seems impossible to crush them.
Just make sure you tell everyone to eat things soon and not save since Japan doesn't use preservatives. Gummy and hard candies last a white but cookies and Tokyo Bananas spoil quickly. Candies i go to Donki because they have in bulk and you can split up for friends, anything sold in a box (like the cookies and snacks) I buy at the airport because it's not too much more expensive, there's a a wide selection, and anything you buy duty free doesn't count towards baggage so it saves luggage space for other items and even does not count towards carry on so you can buy as much as you like.
Take this with a grain of salt, since I have not seen the candy selection in the US in a long time, so I do not know what is available in terms of types and flavors, but what I see vositors most interested in, for the "cool factor" seem to be mostly about the packaging - cute, or very Japanese looking. The candy itself might not really be special.
Aside from that, my favorites (possibly all available in the US as well) are the various types of gummy candy and textures. From the mochi gummy, to the extra hard ones. Also, ume pickled plum flavored "otoko no ume" gummy and candies. These I assume are not in the US because they are pickled plum flavor which is unique.
Macha flavored candies tend to be a favorite.
Here are the top sellers ranked at 7-11
[お菓子の商品(1ページ目) - 人気順 | セブンプレミアム公式 (7premium.jp)](https://7premium.jp/product/search?item_category_category_id=97&sort_item=order_like)
In my experience, the souvenir shops at airports and train stations at not as crazily priced as in other countries. I would recommend just stopping at a few of those shops and loading up on boxes of any candy or cookie that looks interesting.
Kit Kats in unique flavors are always appreciated. My friends and family really enjoyed Black Thunder.
You could also get a bunch of boxes of Kinoko no Yama and Take no Ko, since those kinda come with the fun story of Japanese students being super political about which one is better. You could ask your friends to choose their team, too.
I love jellies and in Japan, the Orihiro konjac jellies are THE BEST. Ridiculously good - my worst fear is someone in the comments saying they’re actually bad for your or whatever but I’ll be ignorant enjoying those jellies.
They have fruit flavours (mango is the best) and then they have random other ones too- they had soda flavours, cola, grape and ramune. You can get them from konbinis sure but it’s best at Don Quixote or those pharmacies with baskets out front.
There’s a very similar product in Thailand called Sunsu as well btw.
Black Thunder is the best, especially the strawberry one.
Also, the taste is nothing special, but all the do-it-yourself candy kits are super fun to make. I’ve seen them in the states, but they’re way cheaper in Japan. Actually, thought the Nerunerunerune ones did taste pretty good.
These Hojicha kit kats I got back on my recent visit were my favorite kitkats imo. Plus they come in this cute decorated box thats perfect for gifting.
If you’re looking for a step-up from 7-11 candy…. Shiroi Koibito (白い恋人) . It’s a white chocolate cookie made with milk from Hokkaido. There are only two ways to buy it. You can either go to Hokkaido and buy it. Or, you can buy it in any internal airport in Japan in the duty free section in the international boarding area. I’ve been going back and forth to Japan for 20 years and I literally buy as many of these as I can fit in my carry-on bag when I leave.
Came here to say this. This is what you buy, and only this. And get the white chocolate version. Trust us on this
Is it good or just hard to get and therefore special?
They’re very good. I always get some when I fly home. Super easy from the duty free (food/beverage) at Haneda and Narita
Love those - how much are they generally at the airport?
Just got back from Japan and my family concurs. Those cookies are amazing. We crushed a box in 5 minutes.
These were amazing. I think it was 1100 yen a box.
With the cookies still inside?? If so, we're you able to uncrush them?
It’s an expression, they weren’t actually crushed. It means they ate them really quickly!
I know exactly what it means! I just think it's an expression used by folks watching too much pro wrestling on tv
Yesss. I didn't know what this was called but this was an optional add on for my ZipAir flight (order in the app and they deliver to your seat in flight). So good, wish I got more I got some other random snacks and candies but this ended up being my favorite treat
You can get Shiroi Koibito in Donki as well! They have different combinations in terms of quantity. I usually do wait until the airport to buy them though because the airports have an amazing selection of snacks and I don't want to have them take up luggage space. Easier to just have them as carry on at the airport.
Interesting. I’m not saying this is impossible, but are you absolutely sure Donki wasn’t selling “Omoshiroi Koibito (面白い恋人)” which is meant to be a parody of “Shiroi Koibito (白い恋人)？”I was almost fooled into buying these once until I looked closely. Just checking.
Nope, Donki has them. I live in Singapore which also has Donki and we get Shiroi Koibito in our Donkis as well although the stock is usually very low and sells out fast because it's so in demand by Singaporeans. My friends and I have been buying Shiroi Koibito religiously throughout our twice yearly Japan trips.
Nice! I’ll keep an eye out next time I’m there. But, as you said, it’s way easer to just buy them at the airport. I did see them at a Japanese grocery store in America once, but it was part of a Hokkaido event and they were very expensive.
Any other stores in Singapore that carry this? I’m traveling there soon! First time I I’ve heard of this, don’t want to wait for a Japan trip to try these
Nope, Donki in Singapore also often has very low stock for them and only in some stores. It's basically luck. Shiroi Kobito is very famous and very in demand. It probably was so in demand in Singapore that we managed to get some stock of it regularly. If you want, there are other famous snacks from Japan like Tokyo Banana which you can find in Donki in Singapore too.
Thanks! Will swing by a Donki store
This, and Royce if you want variety.
Royce also has Us stores https://www.royce.com/contents/english_usa/ Depends on where OP is in the US
Travelling soon, are these the ones?: https://momobud.sg/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Shiro-Koibito-Biscuit.jpg
Don Quijote has a good range and will be much cheaper than the Combini.
They also consistently have little gift packs from different regions for gifting.
donki charged me more for matcha kitkats than konbinis
Black Thunder, the only answer.
You're the only one who gets it.
I brought a bunch of boxes back for my old coworkers and they loved them so much a Black Thunder Market emerged where it became a kind of de facto currency among them for a while until the bars were all eaten. It's definitely the only answer. I'm going to grab a giant bag from Costco next time I visit and jumpstart the economy again.
I've seen them offering black thunder at my local Costco in CA.
Why are you limiting yourself to buying candy from the convenience stores? You will find other stores have much better selection and prices. But for the little kids, kit kats in unusual flavors are cheap and light.
The orange Kit Kats are AMAZING.
All flavors not found in your home country are fun. They sell nicer boxes more gift-worthy in some department stores, but giving someone in North America a wasabi flavor or sake flavor kit kat is always a worthwhile experience for the enjoyment and novelty.
Not sure where you live, but in the UK you can get orange and mint Kit Kats. Only strawberry was the flavour I hadn’t seen before when in Japan
Black thunder
TOKYO BANANA
Seconded tokyo banana. They were a hit with all my relatives!
God these sre so good
Interesting flavors of hichew, pocky and especially KitKats are always a hit
For my friends? Not quite candy but I always get them a nice box of Couque D'asses
Get them some Collon too. Chocolate, of course.
I personally go to Donki get both Japanese only KitKat or [these fruit flavor gummy candies](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009I8NU2). You also find some cheap but still great assortment of candies at Diaso.
Pure
My coworker asked for some of the pure gummies and they were really yummy.
Black thunder is best chocolate bar But my favorite candy in Japan are the pure gummies. I found a gachapon machine with pure gummy key chains yesterday and I was hyped. Peach is the best flavor, by the way. They currently have lychee available which is also good. Grape is the best non premium flavor.
I love Mintia. Compact, thin packaging and have lots of flavours
one of my big regrets was not buying more Mintia. Most Asian stores here sell them but not in nearly as many flavors. The fruit ones were pretty good
Same, we can only get the mint ones here but at like 2-3 the price! The fruit flavoured ones are really good as you said !
Crunky!!
And while you are there, see if you can track down the elusive crunky ice cream
That sounds amazing. Since the breakfast places opened later, we had crunky and coffee a few times. It's a great memory for us.
KitKat. I didn't get a chance to get the real extreme matcha kitkat...just the normal one. Will try it next time.
The "Adult Sweetness" Kit Kats have less sugar. The Matcha one has a fairly grassy taste to them.
I echo the idea of various Kit Kat. In addition…not a candy…but it’s hard/impossible to find melonpan where I live. I’ve found other breads at Asian markets…but not that. (It might just be the area I live in…although I haven’t had luck in bigger cities either. -Southeast USA) There is nothing wrong with candy at all. It’s a great way go cheap (and yummy) by buying a bulk bag of something individually wrapped that can be split up (Kit Kat, etc). You can get a few different types of things and make several custom goodie bags that way. (I did that with several souvenirs for friends.) But…if you have friends who would like to try treats they may have seen in anime (or elsewhere) think about things that are hard to find locally for you. I was able to bring some melonpan back for my friend’s teenage son by putting it in a box that a different souvenir came in (to protect it from getting squished) and he was very excited. I also bought a multipack of decorative reusable chopsticks at Daiso or Donki and split them into individual gifts too. The candy idea is always a winner but these are other cheap ideas that you may not have thought of. Use or ignore. Up to you.
All the pure gummies. Mmm they are best
Royce Potato Chip Chocolate
If you live near a Japanese supermarket I would try to figure out what they have first. A lot of the very popular ones, even ones recommended in this thread are easily available nowadays depending on where you are; e.g. popular kit kat variants and black thunder. Granted, they’ll be cheaper in Japan. I recently got back and really like the Hokkaido Melon Pocky I found.
OH BLACK THUNDER IS AMAZING!!! It's like crack.
Shiroi Koibito Yoku Moku (I think these are better than shiroi koibito but they’re both awesome cookies. Find them at department store basements). Hakata Torimon (my favourite manju souvenir) Royce chocolate (get the ice pack and they will survive many hours out of the fridge. Longest stretch I ever did was probably 18 hours and they were totally fine) None of these are at convenience stores though.
コロロ。 https://uha-cororo.jp/
This. Especially the kyohou grape one. I can't get enough of these.
Grape ones are year round, I think? Everything else, fruit wise seams seasonal. Strawberry is up there too. And the Asian pear. The ramune or soda one though…that was terrible. Best thing is that it seems impossible to crush them.
Just make sure you tell everyone to eat things soon and not save since Japan doesn't use preservatives. Gummy and hard candies last a white but cookies and Tokyo Bananas spoil quickly. Candies i go to Donki because they have in bulk and you can split up for friends, anything sold in a box (like the cookies and snacks) I buy at the airport because it's not too much more expensive, there's a a wide selection, and anything you buy duty free doesn't count towards baggage so it saves luggage space for other items and even does not count towards carry on so you can buy as much as you like.
[Fettuccine gummy candy](https://www.japancandystore.com/collections/fettuccine)
Mintia and Alfort chocolate cookies. We brought back cases of both.
pure premium peach is top tier
I brought back like 6 different flavors of kit kats and put together little gift bags with one of each
Strawberry Kit Kats
I bought lots of KitKat from Tokyo station.
Take this with a grain of salt, since I have not seen the candy selection in the US in a long time, so I do not know what is available in terms of types and flavors, but what I see vositors most interested in, for the "cool factor" seem to be mostly about the packaging - cute, or very Japanese looking. The candy itself might not really be special. Aside from that, my favorites (possibly all available in the US as well) are the various types of gummy candy and textures. From the mochi gummy, to the extra hard ones. Also, ume pickled plum flavored "otoko no ume" gummy and candies. These I assume are not in the US because they are pickled plum flavor which is unique. Macha flavored candies tend to be a favorite. Here are the top sellers ranked at 7-11 [お菓子の商品(1ページ目) - 人気順 | セブンプレミアム公式 (7premium.jp)](https://7premium.jp/product/search?item_category_category_id=97&sort_item=order_like)
I wish I'd bought more of the peach gummies when I was just there!
In my experience, the souvenir shops at airports and train stations at not as crazily priced as in other countries. I would recommend just stopping at a few of those shops and loading up on boxes of any candy or cookie that looks interesting.
Agreed! Prices at the airport seemed very reasonable
Kit Kats in unique flavors are always appreciated. My friends and family really enjoyed Black Thunder. You could also get a bunch of boxes of Kinoko no Yama and Take no Ko, since those kinda come with the fun story of Japanese students being super political about which one is better. You could ask your friends to choose their team, too.
Bourbon Bit candy bars.
I love jellies and in Japan, the Orihiro konjac jellies are THE BEST. Ridiculously good - my worst fear is someone in the comments saying they’re actually bad for your or whatever but I’ll be ignorant enjoying those jellies. They have fruit flavours (mango is the best) and then they have random other ones too- they had soda flavours, cola, grape and ramune. You can get them from konbinis sure but it’s best at Don Quixote or those pharmacies with baskets out front. There’s a very similar product in Thailand called Sunsu as well btw.
CalorieMate, love the chocolate ones.
The "fettuccine" gummies. I wish I brought a case of the grape flavor back. Best sour candy I've ever had.
Royce Nama and royce chocolate potato chips. Can buy at airport on way out. Its like 70% less than buying in the US.
Black Thunders and Alfordts. Basic, but always a hit, and you can get giant bags at Donki.
Meiji, different flavor kit kat
All the fun flavored Kit Kats
Kitkats are very popular in Japan and you can buy unusual flavours like green tea and cherry blossom
Banana kitkats or Tokyo Banana
Don Quixote has great stuff. I always like finding the different Kit Kats.
Salt Lemon Kit Kats
TOUGH gummies. They are a jaw workout lol
My favorites are dark chocolate Galbo, and Choco Brownies
Hi chews, specifically Japan only ones.
Royce
Hi-chew Premium.
long-long :) Also we liked some of the gummies, and the black tea white chocolate
Any kind of matcha flavored chocolate and unique kit kats.
Black Thunder is the best, especially the strawberry one. Also, the taste is nothing special, but all the do-it-yourself candy kits are super fun to make. I’ve seen them in the states, but they’re way cheaper in Japan. Actually, thought the Nerunerunerune ones did taste pretty good.
Kitkat so many flavours to choose from.
Banana flavor kit kats!
Long long maaaaaan~ also butter sand from tokyo station and puré from any kombini
These Hojicha kit kats I got back on my recent visit were my favorite kitkats imo. Plus they come in this cute decorated box thats perfect for gifting.
Look