Shake Shack Black sesame milkshake: I hadn't been to a Shake Shack in Japan and stumbled upon one near Meiji Jingu, where I went to see the yellow autumn ginko trees. I stopped in to see if they had any exclusives, and their menu features a Japan-only black sesame shake. It was super satisfying on multiple levels: thicker than anything I've found in Japan, with a nutty and savory black sesame flavor that didn't taste at all artificial. Black sesame is one of my favorite flavors; I've had a lot of black sesame snacks over the ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Lotte Cheesecake Koala's March: The way this product sat on the shelves at my local kobini, I was initially drawn in by the cheesecake flavor before realizing it was also a special collaboration with Pokemon. These are standard Koala's March biscuits, shaped like koalas with an icing-like filling. With this collaboration, the cookies also feature prints of Pokemon as well as cute koalas doing random things (I found a koala caught in a UFO catcher in this box, something I suspect I wouldn't find in America). I liked Pokemo... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Nissin Annoimo Waguri sweet potato cookies: I grew up eating coconut sable biscuits from Asian grocery stores, the type that has scalloped edges and a glazed coating with flakes of sugar. I like them so much that i made the biscuit my avatar for Tasty Snacking. It turns out that in Japan, there are extended flavors of this basic coconut cookie. For autumn, they have a sweet potato flavor with decorative packaging featuring maple leaves and chestnuts. I was pretty amazed by how concentrated they were able to get the sweet potato flav... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Orangina Blood Orange Soda: A "born in France, bottled in Japan" flavor of Orangina featuring blood orange, one of my favorite citrus variants. The color is a tad more red than grapefruit juice; it's pulp-less, unlike normal Orangina. Doesn't have the same tart flavor you'd get from fresh blood orange fruit but does have a distinct berry-like flavor that distinguishes it from regular orange juice. On the sweet side but still refreshing. 3.5/5.0
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Orangina Muscat Sparkling Soda: A special edition grape flavored Orangina introduced for the Japanese market, this soda still contains citrus (orange, grapefruit, and lemon) with the addition of "Muscat of Alexandria," a type of white wine grape. Like normal Orangina, it only has a small percentage of actual juice (12%) but tastes less artificial than Sunkist or other orange soda alternatives. The main flavor is still orange soda (as opposed to tasting like grape soda), but it does have a different enough aftertaste that... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Mount Takao Mitarashi Dango: A couple weekends ago, I went hiking at Mount Takao, a scenic destination about an hour from Tokyo with views of Mount Fuji from the 600m tip. It's especially famous for its colorful autumn leaves, which I was very thankful to get to experience firsthand. Probably because I've been especially inactive since the start of the pandemic, it was more difficult than I expected to scale the mountain with its steep inclines and the added challenge of wearing a mask while exercising. The 22k steps... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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