There are many kinds of American snacks in Japan, except, hmm, maybe no gummy bears. There is Oreo's, Pringle's and also M&M’s. As for Japanese snacks in North America, I have heard there is only Pocky and Senbei, or rice crackers. For some unknown reason there is a noticeable trade gap between very popular and very good snacks in Japan and their availability in North America or Europe shops.
Then again, North American snack products, like ice cream, are also different in Japan. For instance, I noticed a few examples easily recognizable ice cream brands, like Haagen-Dazs and Baskin Robins in Japan. These two brands of ice cream are expensive in Japan and sell for around 250 Yen($2.20US) for a mini-cone. Rregular Japanese and other lesser brands of ice cream are usually sold for around 100 Yen. Imported ice cream in Japan is at premium prices and usually bought once in while on special occasions.
Baskin Robins is better known as the '31 Ice Cream'(JP) shop in Japan. Nobody calls it Baskin Robins. If you ask a Japanese person where is the closet Baskins Robbins store, they might respond with a question like, "What is that?" something new, maybe!
When I checked out the Japanese B.R. home page I was surprised to see that the name "31" actually means they have "31" flavours available. On the other hand, there is no way to know how many flavours exist in shops outside of Japan, but the archives at the B.R. production center say that there is 1000 known flavours, so we really cannot compare what flavours are available here and there.
The current flavour of the month in Japan is "Cinnamon roll swirl", but what's funny is that in the US the flavour of the month is "Baseball Nuts". Just looking at the name, it's impossible to picture what that is exactly, except to think: "Something with nuts in it?". In a nutshell (excuse the pun), at B.R. at one point they began to run out of names and that's why they have a thousand flavours… Don't you think?
However, in the case of Haagen-Dazs it's slim pickings. There are at least forty-two flavours sold in the US compared with a mere 9 flavours available in Japan. Vanilla, Cookies & Cream, Strawberry, Macadamia nuts, Orange, Melon, Rich milk, Dolce de Leche and Green Tea.
Incidentally, I saw an advertisement on April 9th, 2004 for ice cream in Tokyo. A westerner lies awkwardly on the floor, bowing in the tradtional Japanese style to her ice cream. Of course, the ice cream is Azuki, the Japanese flavoured Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Common flavours like chocolate are not sold in Japan, but Matcha(green tea) is popular and Azuki ice cream is a very special taste. If Matcha and Azuki flavours were not available in any kinds of snacks in Japan you probably think Japanese would not be satisfied? Well you are exactly right!
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