I went to Nagano over the National Foundation Day weekend. Nagano is great because it’s full of local specialties: apples, soba, and shichimi (seven-spice). Nagano, like many culinary hot spots in Japan, has its own regional Kit Kat flavors, so I picked up a box of shichimi Kit Kats and a box of apple Kit Kats while I was there.

The Kit Kats of Japan are well known among those in Japanese Studies. Today’s fun link is My KitKats. Run by Alison Musket, a JET in Hamamatsu, this site features Kit Kats from all over Japan and from around the world, plus some cultural commentary.

It’s refreshing to have someone blogging about Kit Kats who genuinely enjoys collecting and trying them. Most English-language articles on Kit Kats tend toward “oh, those wacky Japanese!” It’s true that Japan loves regional and seasonal foods and that there is a spirit of “gotta catch ‘em all!” here, whether that’s climbing sacred mountains, making pilgrimages to temples, or obtaining Hello Kitty charms. However, this is a brilliant marketing tactic, and I can’t claim to not be excited for “collecting” my third Daibutsu or the annual coming of the Starbucks sakura latte. Ms. Musket’s blog completely avoids the “wacky” bent, going instead for photo documentation and some translations and explanations of the flavor text (har) on the boxes.

If you’d like to read more about the specifications and flavors of Japanese Kit Kat’s, check out Jen Ken’s Kit Kat Blog. Jen is an ex-JET who has not only managed to get Japanese Kit Kats in the US but has also sampled all of the regional flavors! おめでとう！

Take a break! Enjoy a Fun Link!

-Leah

Further Reading About Kit Kats

Official Japanese Kit Kat website: http://www.breaktown.com/

Chappell, Bill. “Kit Kat Kaleidoscope: Far-Out Flavors from Japan.” NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126515207. 10 May 2010.

Cummings, Tucker S. “Japan’s Strangest Kit Kat Flavors.” Weird Asia News.
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/03/18/japans-strangest-kit-kat-flavors/. 18 Mar. 2010.

“Kit Kat Takes on Japanese Tastes.” The Independent.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/kit-kat-takes-on-japanese-tastes-1901867.html. 17 Feb. 2010.

Madison, Jillian. “18 Kit Kat Flavors You’ve Probably Never Tried.” Food Network Humor.
http://foodnetworkhumor.com/2009/06/kit-kat-flavors-from-around-the-world/ 15 June 2009.