Kit Kats
 

I've heard that Kit Kat candy has taken on a whole new life in Japan from its origins in the West, mostly through public radio here: Kit Kat Kaleidoscope: Far-Out Flavors From Japan : NPR The story doesn't mention this, but I heard that they have become a good luck token?

I'm doing a project on Kit Kats in Japan and would love more information on how the candy, and the greater trend that it represents, may have affected Japanese culture. How have the Japanese adapted the candy to become more representative of their culture? As much detail, from anecdotes to general knowledge, would be much appreciated!

I love kit kat and Japan has really taken it to a whole new level..

i've tried to compile all the kit kat that I have found so far , u can see it in
my blog : Maniniyot

just click on the kitkat tag

The way many North Americans react when they discover that in Japan we have unique flavors in whatever product that doesn't originate from Japan keeps baffling me.

The article you posted sounds really off to me in that it's missing the whole point of these products. It doesn't matter if these products taste horrible to whoever lives outside of Japan because they aren't among the target consumers to start with. More importantly, companies don't create these new flavors to please the Japanese palate, either!

I laughed at the way Americans residing in Japan reacted and made Youtube videos when Pepsi introduced "Ice Cucumber" a couple of years ago. Why do you guys take everything seriously? If Pepsi really wanted to create a new flavor that would sell, they would have opted for pineapple or something instead of cucumber, wouldn't you think? The point is the new flavor had to strike as weird and crazy and tasted just as strange. Pepsi advertised it saying it would be available for a limited time only. Pepsi knew it wouldn't sell. It just wanted to get consumers talking about the crazy new flavor and uttering the brand name "Pepsi" to one another. And Pepsi won. We did talk about it and nearly everyone around me bought a bottle. Pepsi wanted to play a game. We played along and laughed but Americans made videos and criticized the flavor to the whole world when, in fact, Pepsi Ice Cucumber was no longer available by the time people watched those videos.

In Japan, companies are in serious competition with one another for the relatively limited shelf space in convenient stores, supermarkets and 100-yen shops. How do you get a better spot on the sheves even temporarily? Create crazy flavors that everyone will be talking about! KitKat is no exception. If you buy a pack of a new flavor along with your usual regular red pack, Nestle wins.

@Sashimister
Remember the demographic of users on this forum as well.

What are you trying to say? I'm just responding to OP.

If you have a better analysis, post it.

I'm just saying you're talking more intricate economics and social science to junior high/high school kids for the most part.

Thanks for your post! It's given me some much better insight than any sources around on the Internet. This is actually for a college sociology class, but it's proving difficult because the assignment gives me the unrealistic feeling that I need to experience the culture first-hand.

What about the good luck element? That students take Kit Kats to tests because the name in Japanese translates to something like good luck. Is that true?

If you're referring to my post, no problem. If not, just disregard the rest. :)

There is that element. But please don't think we believe that KitKat has magical power or anything of that nature. It's mostly for the pun and fun. Many people carry good-luck charms from temples and shrines but KitKat is the only edible kind.

We pronounce KitKat 'Kitto Katto' over here. The phrase for "Will surely win" is 'Kitto Katsuzo', so there is enough reason there for some teenagers to carry KitKat to exams, athletic events, dates, etc. Please don't think that the entire nation is always carrying KitKat.

Don't worry! I understand the difficulty of over-analyzing something that doesn't necessarily have much significance. Unfortunately, since this is an analysis so I have to treat it with importance, but I will try to represent that I'm using this possibly inconsequential item to look at more essential cultural trends.

Does the Japanese relationship to Kit Kats or other originally Western products have anything to do with them being originally from the West? Have the Western elements been weeded out of the product because consumers dislike the associate or are the Western influences valued and enhanced? Or does no one care?

I hate to use you as an example but I really have trouble with the use of the term "Western" by non-Japanese scholars (and weaboos alike). Are you aware Japan has already had 470-year exchange with Europe? More things in Japan originally come from the West than they so blindly seem to believe.

KitKat has been here since 1973 and many Japanese don't know it came from another country. Why should we know? It isn't of importance. It's made in Japan and it does us no good if we know which brands are origianlly Japanese and which aren't. Japan has been producing chocolate since 1878. Chocolate isn't foreign food to us.

What are the Western elements of KitKat that you speak of? We already had all kinds of chocolate products by 1973 and KitKat didn't surprise us one bit. Nothing was so new about it.

Just tell me what non-Western country welcomes Western influence more happily than Japan. Almost all of us wear Western-style clothes everyday. We watch foreign movies all the time. Millions of us go abroad every year. Close to no one eats three Japanese-style meals everyday. 　　　

That Nestle Japan keeps producing new flavors for KitKat has nothing to do with the Japanese not liking its original flavor.　We have always liked to do things, including eating, according to the season for thousands of years. We had long been doing so when we first encountered Westerners. So it has nothing to do with the West. Do some research in Japanese confectionery (Wagashi) and you will know what I'm talking about. We want our food to look and taste different every season. If a chocolate maker wants to cater to that habit, it will come up with unique flavors each season.

This may accidentally explain, at least partly, why M&M's and Snicker aren't doing well here. Everyone is complaining they are too sweet for the Japanese palate but they haven't listened to us so far.