Get a taste for five of Japan’s most popular snacks, all for less than US$17.

Inside Tokyo Station lies a dreamland called Tokyo Okashi Land (“Tokyo Sweets Land“), where you can find a collection of antenna shops belonging to famous confectionery companies such as Ezaki Glico, Kameda Seika, Morinaga, and Calbee.

It’s a popular place to shop for some of Japan’s best sweet souvenirs, but with so many stores and menu items to choose from, it can be hard to know where to shop and what to get, especially if you’re in a rush to catch your train.

▼ 東京おかしランド (“Tokyo Okashi Land”)

However, we’re here to steer you in the right direction with five of the best products worth spending your money on. And best of all, it’s an affordable splurge, as all these items will set you back less than 2,500 yen (US$16.96), which is a bargain considering their quality and uniqueness. So let’s get to it and start the journey, beginning with…

1. Glico’s Almond Days.


▼ One of the best things you can purchase here is the Almond Cream Frozen All Almond (690 yen for a medium).

This is the store’s most popular item, and it’s easy to see why, as it’s rich and luxurious but not too sweet, made with frozen almond milk and topped with a generous amount of special almond milk cream. The aroma and nuttiness of almonds is pronounced, but the flavour is well-rounded, leaving you with a fresh aftertaste and a sense of sweet satisfaction. Plus, if you follow the store’s Instagram and show it to staff, they’ll give you a 50-yen topping for free.

▼ The biscuit topping is highly recommended.

2. Kameda Seika

This company has the lion’s share of the market when it comes to rice snacks, producing some of the country’s most popular brands, including one called Happy Turn. Sprinkled with a delicious “Happy Powder”, these addictive snacks rank amongst the top favourites in Japan, but here at Tokyo Okashi Land you can pick up a freshly made variety that’s hard to find anywhere else.

There are various flavours to choose from, but Freshly Made Happy Turn Powder Mania (540 yen) is the crowd favourite at Okashi Land, as they contain more than twice as much Happy Powder as usual, giving them a stronger taste.

▼ You can eat them in store, but as they sell them in bags, we recommend purchasing them here and taking them with you on your Shinkansen journey.

3. Morinaga’s Okashi na Okashi-ya san

This play on words translates as “Morinaga’s Funny Sweets Shop“, and the sense of fun and play is definitely on display with the cute and colourful store fit-out.

While Morinaga produces some of the country’s best cookies and sweet caramels, here you can enjoy them in rare forms, as a Freshly Baked Moonlight Cookie (300 yen) and a Morinaga Milk Caramel Soft Serve Ice Cream (480 yen).

▼ The cookie is served piping hot and it’s so large that it won’t fit in the palm of your hand like a regular Moonlight Cookie, which is usually sold in boxes of 14 at the supermarket.

▼ The ice cream is inspired by Morinaga’s famous chewy Milk Caramel candy, a chunk of which is popped into the soft serve for extra flavour.

4. Calbee Plus

Calbee is another big name in the Japanese snack world, and one of its most famous products is Jagarico, a crunchy potato snack sold in a cup. However, at Okashi Land, you can try an exclusive version called BIG Poteriko Special Potato Salad Flavour (430 yen). Unavailable anywhere else, this snack features the same Potato Salad Flavour used in the Jagarico lineup, albeit with onions for a more sublime flavour, and the rods of potato are much thicker and longer than the regular version.

▼ Beware — these are addictive!

If you have time to spare, you might want to pair your potato snack with a glass of cold beer, another exclusive treat for customers at this store.

So, after visiting four of the best stores in Tokyo Okashi Land and purchasing five items, how much did we spend? Well, the total came to 2,440 yen, which by our standards, is a great bargain. Not only will this selection allow you to enjoy a variety of sweet and salty options to excite your palate, it’ll also introduce you to some of the country’s most well-known and popular snacks and sweets, some of which you can’t get anywhere else.

So next time you find yourself rushing between platforms at Tokyo Station, remember to keep an eye out for these recommendations at Okashi Land. And if you’re lucky, you might just run into some rare and exclusive KitKats too!

Related: Tokyo Okashi Land
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