Hair Chocolate

Okay, should this qualify as a “weird Japanese food” or an “international food styling fail”?*

The case for it being a weird Japanese food:
1) “I know, let’s make an expensive chocolate bar filled with the world’s most sickly-sweet, artificially-colored, carnival-adjascent, junk food we can find!” said nobody outside of Japan ever.
2) The words “strand” and “hair” should not even be in the same room with the word “chocolate.”

The case for it being an international food styling fail:
1) The brand designers obviously never had a troll collection as children, or they’d know that “angel” hair is not the image invoked by that package illustration.
2) The Japanese words on the front of the package are not (as one might assume) the local translation of the product description. It’s a disclaimer that the actual product may “differ” from what’s shown on the box.

Uh…no kidding?

Eww.

And how did it taste? About as delicious as it looks. (¬_¬)

*The chocolate bars are apparently imported, but the packaging is all printed in Japanese (not just a sticker slapped over the ingredients list), which means it was made for the Japanese market and somebody made a bet that this unholy alliance would appeal to the locals.

It’s the year 1784 and the shōgun rules with an iron fist . . . except within the walled pleasure quarter of Yoshiwara. Inside the Great Gate, samurai law does not apply, and it’s women who pull the strings

The Samurai’s Octopus…is a truly remarkable book, one that surprised and charmed me at every turn of the page. It’s one of the most memorable books I’ve read in a long time. You’re in for a treat.”
James Ziskin, Anthony, Barry, and Macavity Award-winning author of the Ellie Stone mysteries

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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had

Published by Jonelle Patrick

Author of The Last Tea Bowl Thief

3 thoughts on “Hair Chocolate

    1. I have to admit, nothing much surprises me in Japan anymore, but I was surprised by this one! I actually walked past it, then backed up to see why a chocolate bar had troll hair, because it was so weird!

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