I’m visiting the states this week for 15 days (my base school knows and is completely supportive/doesn’t care) but I’ve been raised with the task of bringing back an American candy that’s unknown to Japanese people as a souvenir. Only for my eikaiwa students that I teach 4 days a week luckily, so only 60 students.
It’s already fully reimbursed (the JTE I teach eikaiwa with gave me ¥15000 for the omiyage for the class and she’s getting reimbursed by the school, and she told me to keep the change as a way to say thank you/sorry for the inconvenience , etc. etc.)
So my question is, what American candy can you think of that Japanese people have never heard of/can’t buy online/can access? I thought of Reese’s but they have their own equivalent. Licorice, but it’s kinda gross (imo, lol).
Any suggestion is great! I’m gonna put it on my second to last day and put it in my checked suitcase. I’m not a huge candy eater, so I’m not aware of any unknown American brands outside of the major companies. Thanks!!
35 comments
Nerds (or nerds rope) and Fruit by the foot. Poptarts too.
Airhead, sour patch kids. Don’t get anything like chocolate that can melt
You should get the Licorice that’s shaped like Scottie dogs lol. Maybe something like salt water taffy or circus peanuts would be interesting also?
Jolly ranchers
What do you think is the equivalent of Reese’s here?
I’ve never seen it, so… yeah hella curious to know what you’re on about. Not that I’m missing Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or anything.
Skittles and starburst
Saltwater taffy, Jelly Belly jelly beans, payday bars, Mike and Ike, Jolly Ranchers, Swedish Fish, candy corn
reese’s!!! i miss them so much
There is no equivalent to Reese’s; peanut butter isn’t even widely consumed. How about a local candy from your area? Preferably that is weird with a good back story.
-Junior mints
-Striped green and red mints,
-Red hots
-licorice 😵💫
Baby Ruth bars
Molasses candies
Warheads.
Japan has sour candy but it’s timid.
Warheads extreme will probably surprise anyone who tries one here.
I’d also love to know what you think is like Reese’s here, because that’s my immediate answer as well
Pearson’s salted nut roll from Saint Paul Minnesota.
Buckeyes? I’m pretty sure that’s just an ohio thing. They’re thicker than reese’s and taste pretty different imo even though they’re also peanut butter and chocolate. It’s almost like a fudge.
I brought dum dums when I first arrived. They made the trip successfully, even in the hot Japanese summer.
Warheads would also be fun.
Almond Joy, Starbursts, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Valentine’s Day candies, sour tart candies, and peppermint candies, especially peppermint rolls and candy canes.
You can find some foreign candies in stores, like Butterfingers, but they are pretty rare, at least in my area.
Cowtails were the most popular candy I brought back, but I highly recommend bringing a couple of boxes of Nerds so that you can see your coworkers eat them one Nerd at a time. Highlight of my day.
100 Grand Bars .
Abba zabba?
But even in the US those are kind of uncommon,
Snow Caps?
Ones they might like?
Taffy, LifeSavers, Nerds, sweetTarts,
Ones they probably won’t but might be willing to try anyway
Peppermint anything, rootbeer anything, licorice anything.
Reese’s. If the kids don’t like them you can sell them to other alts at a premium.
Teaberry gum and alot of appalachian candies.
I deep fried oreos for my school. It was funny.
Not very glamorous, but Tootsie Rolls.
In my first year in JET, I had my mom ship over candy canes when they went on sale here in the United States. My mom is an absolute saint and I passed them out to my kids at one of my elementary schools I was teaching at. I’d imagine this was very uncommon, but the nurse lady double checked the food allergies of all the students that would be receiving them (classes I was teaching that day) and it was A-OK’d. The next year though, my principal said that practice would be coming to a close because in his words, “it would be unfair and sad to all the other students who didn’t get it at the school and all the neighboring children at other schools who heard you gave out candy to these students and not them” aka. codeword for we don’t want to be liable to any kids getting sick or any trouble coming from you passing out random/foreign candy, which I totally get. One of my teachers lost her shit because she had always read and seen Christmas videos where people ate candy canes, but had never had it.
I’ve never seen twix or butterfinger here.
Also while not a candy, they absolutely do not have combos or ranch flavored anything here. If I could buy absolutely anything from the US right now it would be combos.
Everybody loves Jolly ranchers!
Do they have airheads?
Kit Kat. The original version. Japan has too many flavors (yummy) but original is hard to find.
Atomic FireBalls sold on Amazon
See’s Candies, I always brought back the lollipops but they’re a little on the expensive side.
I brought airheads when I came over here because it was one of the few candies I could find that (I think) aren’t sold in Japan. Plus on Amazon japan they’re listed as “American candy” lol.
Fruit roll ups maybe? See if you can get into Costco and get a big box
Idk where you’re visiting exactly but amish candies rock and have a fun backstory
I brought back warheads and atomic fireballs once and it was a MASSIVE hit