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In Japan, the Kit Kat Isn’t Just a Chocolate

nytimes.com

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Re: In Japan, the Kit Kat Isn’t Just a Chocolate

#41

Post by mathrawka »

tokyodude wrote: post #9

This is just my personal observation with no data but AFAICT Kit Kat is *mostly" for tourists here in Japan. If there's an obsession it seems to me it's tourists buying them. I could be wrong but I've never personally seen Japanese people buying them (of course they must, just saying that I haven't noticed). I just walked over to 3 convenience stores that have a large candy selections. The 7/11 had no Kit Kats out of…

It's a not so uncommon omiyage to buy. Each region has their own flavors, so you are more likely to get them from co-workers than friends.

There was also the marketing ploy around 15? years ago that they did a play on Kit Kat to be きっとかつ/きっと勝つ/kitto katsu for students that wanted to feel like they would surely win a game or pass a test.

Re: In Japan, the Kit Kat Isn’t Just a Chocolate

#42

Post by dejv »

Isamu wrote: post #8
yohann305 wrote: post #2

I'm surprised to see this on the first page of HN. I'm trying really hard to see how this could belong here. Anyone care to explain?! thanks

You don't eat Kit Kats while hacking? Time for a survey: what is your go-to hacking snack or drink?

Lots of green tea, 1,5 - 2 litres per day. Not sure if thats healthy or not.

Re: In Japan, the Kit Kat Isn’t Just a Chocolate

#43

Post by jgh »

tokyodude wrote: post #9

This is just my personal observation with no data but AFAICT Kit Kat is *mostly" for tourists here in Japan. If there's an obsession it seems to me it's tourists buying them. I could be wrong but I've never personally seen Japanese people buying them (of course they must, just saying that I haven't noticed). I just walked over to 3 convenience stores that have a large candy selections. The 7/11 had no Kit Kats out of…

Speaking of tourist candy, what's with M&M stores being at all the off-broadway/times square ripoffs in every major city?

Re: In Japan, the Kit Kat Isn’t Just a Chocolate

#45

Post by pbhjpbhj »

emsy wrote: post #3

When I was in Japan I think I came back with 7 different flavours of KitKat. And they all (but one or so) tasted really good. It's too bad they aren't available elsewhere. Another type of Candy where the Japanese get creative with flavours are Pocky sticks. There's always a flavour you didn't try yet.

FWIW Pocky are called Mikado in the UK (made under license from Glico by Kraft AFAICT, [0]). They're marketed as quirky [and] Japanese, rather like [1]. But, I think they only do one flavour.

Are the flavoured ones the same thin breadstick with different flavoured coatings? Are they all chocolate based?

To me they're vaguely reminiscent of Corinthians[2], which are rather like the inner part of a kit-kat too. Corinthians used to be served in ice-cream in UK restaurants.

[0] https://www.otakunews.com/Article/1451/is-mikado-pocky-a-tas...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mikado

[2] https://shop.countdown.co.nz/shop/productdetails?stockcode=5...

Re: In Japan, the Kit Kat Isn’t Just a Chocolate

#46

Post by sincerely »

Isamu wrote: post #8
yohann305 wrote: post #2

I'm surprised to see this on the first page of HN. I'm trying really hard to see how this could belong here. Anyone care to explain?! thanks

You don't eat Kit Kats while hacking? Time for a survey: what is your go-to hacking snack or drink?

The roast beef classic [1]: salt & vinegar potato chips, coca cola

[1]: http://rbeef.blogspot.com/2005/12/i-could-not-eat-chips-i-wa...

Re: In Japan, the Kit Kat Isn’t Just a Chocolate

#47

Post by janekm »

tokyodude wrote: post #9

This is just my personal observation with no data but AFAICT Kit Kat is *mostly" for tourists here in Japan. If there's an obsession it seems to me it's tourists buying them. I could be wrong but I've never personally seen Japanese people buying them (of course they must, just saying that I haven't noticed). I just walked over to 3 convenience stores that have a large candy selections. The 7/11 had no Kit Kats out of…

Tourists, yes, but to a large extent internal tourism due to the tradition of bringing back regional snacks for friends, family and coworkers. If you visit the gift shops along the highways in Japan they are stacked high with kitkat boxes of the local specialty flavours.

Re: In Japan, the Kit Kat Isn’t Just a Chocolate

#48

Post by Yetanfou »

dejv wrote: post #42
Isamu wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't eat Kit Kats while hacking? Time for a survey: what is your go-to hacking snack or drink?

Lots of green tea, 1,5 - 2 litres per day. Not sure if thats healthy or not.

Same here, often jasmin blended with some Lapsang Souchong ("smoked tea") to give it a bit more punch. I've been doing this for decades and haven't noticed anything other than that it makes you pee quite a lot - a good thing as it serves as a natural screen/keyboard break.

Re: In Japan, the Kit Kat Isn’t Just a Chocolate

#49

Post by dang »

pxtail wrote: post #10
yohann305 wrote: post #2

I'm surprised to see this on the first page of HN. I'm trying really hard to see how this could belong here. Anyone care to explain?! thanks

Agree, semi-clickbait articles from mainstream sources like theverge, theguardian , nytimes (this one especially) seem to be thriving recently(?). I suppose that HN got widely recognized as source of high quality traffic and content is artificially pushed to fp now.

No, the situation has been the same for many years, as you can easily tell from looking at old submission histories.
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