Subject: J-Candy
I enjoyed the Nikkei View
essay on Japanese junk food. It brings back a lot of memories.
It didn't mention Botan Ame or similar candies with the edible gelatin
inner wrapper, though. I like some of the names of different products like
Pocari Sweat, Yogloo ("yo-glue") or Pocky. Who dreams up this stuff anyway?
Subject: Re: J-Candy
> I like some of the names of different products like Pocari Sweat,
> Yogloo ("yo-glue") or Pocky. Who dreams up this stuff anyway?
Have you seen the book
Japanese Jive by Caroline McKeldin (Tengu Books, 1993).
It has examples of Japanese products with wacky English-language
Japanese trade names (like Pocari Sweat)?
It's a small booklet, really, but it's a hoot. Many of those
products have appeared on the market since I lived in Japan thirty years ago.
I like Calpis better than Pocari Sweat. However, I do LOVE Botan Ame and have
always had a thing for edible paper and clear wrappers because of Japanese
candies. Also, I love Morinaga caramels, they sell it at the local Japanese
supermarket. Also: Milky, the sweet white candy.
Subject: Re: J-Candy
Thanks for the
Japanese Jive reference. "Japanglish" is always amusing to me.
I am more fond of the name "Pocari Sweat" than the beverage itself.
I also prefer Calpis ("Karupisu" -- at least, that's how we said it.).
Do you recall a children's caramel candy (a red package about the size of a
pack of cigarettes with a small prize) called "Guriko" (maybe it was
written "Glico")? Is it still made?
Subject: Re: J-Candy: Glico caramel
> Do you recall a children's caramel candy (a red package about
> the size of a pack of cigarettes with a small prize) called
> "Guriko" (maybe it was written "Glico")? Is it still made?
Glico is the company name. They make Pocky, as well as other kinds
of candy and food products. I enjoyed those caramels, especially
the edible wrappers. No North American candy had anything really similar.
I can't remember what prizes I got, but I seem to recall there was
a "Boy's Pack" and a "Girl's Pack", depending on the kind of prize.
On one trip to our local Japanese food store, only the Girl's Pack
was in stock, but I liked the caramels so much I asked my mother to
buy me a package anyway. Luckily I had a sister to whom I could give
the prize, so I was able to overcome this early challenge to my
gender identity. :-)
Glico's Honsha Website - watch Pocky commercials! (Quicktime files)
glico.topica.ne.jp/whatsnew/pocky98/
Glico appears to have a subsidiary in Brazil (home of the most Nikkei-jin in the
world), where it makes snacks that contain "glutomato monossodico":
Ebicen (Ebi sembei) - Glico Snack
www.ebicen.com/prod02.htm>
A Canadian university student says he speaks for
"Pockaholics Anonymous" and has posted a webpage:
Dave's Wonderful World of Pocky
www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/graves/pocky.html
Subject: Re: J-Candy: Glico caramel
> Glico is the company name. They make Pocky, as well as
> other kinds of candy and food products.
Glico! It was the other brand of caramels I ate growing up, with a runner
on the box with arms outstretched as if crossing the finish line. The
Morinaga brand was also a cigarette-box sized package, but yellow, and with
a much more sedate, "traditional" look to it.
Wow, great thinking about all this....
One other childhood memory: Riding bikes around the neighborhood with my
"tomodachi", I always used to stop by a store and buy frozen pineapple
rings -- they were pineapple-flavored popsicles shaped in a
perfect ring like a sliced pineapple.
Subject: Re: J-Candy: Glico caramel
> Glico! That was the other brand of caramels I ate growing up,
> with a picture of a runner on the box with arms outstretched
> as if crossing the finish line
And the caption said, "Hito-tsubu 100 mehtoru" which translates to "One drop
(piece), [good for] 100 metres". It would be interesting to find out if any 100 m
sprinters in Japan (or anywhere else for that matter) include Glico caramels
as part of their training/diet regimen. :)
> Do you recall a children's caramel candy (a red package about
> the size of a pack of cigarettes with a small prize) called
> "gurikko" (maybe it was written Glico)? Is it still made?
I recall seeing the same red Glico caramel box with the runner and
the toy at a Japanese food store not too long ago ... or does
my memory deceive me?
Subject: Re: J-Candy: Pocky
Pocky is one of my favorites. Pocky is sold in Europe as "Micado".
Subject: Re: J-Candy: Pocky
From The Beam, a free monthly bilingual tabloid for Japanese Americans and
Japanese-language speakers in the San Francisco Bay Area:
Japanese American Hallowe'en
By Shizue Seigel
Halloween can be a chance to touch base with our Nikkei heritage in a
light-hearted mode. We can dress our kids up like Pokemon characters
and ninjas, or haul out the Obon kimonos and happi coats. We can even
pass out Halloween treats with a Japanese twist. With the Japanese
penchant for enclosing everything in elaborate coverings, most bags
of candy from Nihon contain individually-wrapped morsels perfectly
suited for trick-or-treat bags. Imported candies are a bit more
expensive than the typical Safeway offering, but a small investment
of cash supports our Nikkei groceries while giving our kids another
reason to appreciate their heritage. An added bonus for parents with
a secret sweet-tooth is a walk down memory lane.
Food, and candy in particular, can evoke childhood memories like
nothing else. Last Christmas, I was surprised and delighted to see my
twenty-something offspring tussling over the assorted Meiji
mini-boxed treats I had put in their stockings. Both my usually
sophisticated daughters wanted the teeny little cone-shaped
chocolates that are brown at the base and topped with strawberry.
Some heavy-duty horse-trading ensued before peace was restored.
Our kids have a much wider selection of Japanese candies than I did
as a child. My choices were limited to Botan Ame (Rice Candy),
Morinaga caramels and the generic sugar candy that looks like little
pastel fragmentation grenades. I loved Botanıs melt-in-your mouth
rice-paper wrappers, but the gelatinous, transparent pink candy stuck
to my teeth and tasted mainly of sugar. And, I am peeved by the
de-evolution of the box. The label is still red and green, but the
green part on top used to be a separate little box with a toy prize
inside - a tiny tin skillet or jet plane. Now the candy and the prize
come in one box and the prize is merely a sticker. At least they
still have the rice-paper inner wrapper...
When we lived in Japan in the 50s, I had a pretty much unlimited
supply of caramels, which my dad won playing pachinko. They were
memorable mainly because what looked like a regular cardboard box was
constructed in two pieces, so you could slide the inner box in and
out like a drawer. Itıs a silly little thing, but in my kidıs mind,
it was one of the ways that Japan was subtly and mysteriously
different from the U.S. And of course there was Milky the sweet
milk-based hard candies in a bright red package with a madly grinning
girl on the front. Sometimes when I get desperate for Milkys, I eat
coffee creamer straight out of the jar by the spoonful.
My kids introduced me to Koalas - crunchy little tidbits traced with
cute little critters and filled with strawberry cream, and strawberry
mushrooms with crispy pretzel stems. A family favorite was Pocky, the
long thin sweet pretzels dipped in chocolate. It was Pocky that made
me realize that Japanese strawberry flavor tastes like real
strawberries and milk. American ³strawberry² candy doesnıt taste like
anything in the natural world. Nor does ³cherry.² The only way we
know itıs supposed to be ³strawberry² or ³cherry² is because the
package tells us so.
In todayıs Nikkei markets the choices are endless. You can find
flavors like ume (plum), tea or ginger. You can get elaborate molded
chocolate lollipops with cartoon characters on them, or whistle candy
- a long strip of lifesaver-like candies that give a shrill blast
when you blow through them. Then there are Hello Kitty and Pokemon
candies and gum.
Some candies are quite expensive. They contain a paltry piece of gum
and an elaborate toy plastic robots for the boys and housewares for
the girls. But my personal favorites are the fruit-flavored gummies,
which come in all kinds of fairly authentic flavors, including
lichee, apple, peach and two different kinds of grape. The kiwi ones
have real seeds in them. The best part for an orally-fixated person
like me, is that each piece is individually wrapped, so I canıt munch
them down too fast. And theyıre low in calories 9 pieces equal 170
calories.
For those who prefer to steer entirely clear of sugar, Japanese rice
crackers are another Halloween possibility. Here again, many are
individually wrapped, and they come in different textures from light
and airy to crunchy, and are flavored with shrimp powder, ume (plum),
nori (seaweed), honey or sugar.
Halloween a Japanese American holiday? Who knows, this year, you
might be able to start some new traditions. Imagine making daruma
jack oılanterns or going to work in full kabuki makeup. (I did that
once in the 80s. Accessorized with a cheap Tina Turner wig, a purple
Japanese jacket (haori), and a plastic sword, the get-up was quite a
sight - or fright!
