American Candy not In Japan

So I was wondering what kinds of candy/sweets they don't make in Japan, because I was thinking of bringing some over as small gifts.

poptarts (not quite candy, but lots of americans there crave for some...), most halloween candy, snickers, baby ruth, life saver lollipops, lollipops in general, ...

pretty much, anything that's normally far too sweet for the Japanese, chocolate and gooey coated anything will not be sold over there.

they do have a few 'western' stores that import candies and such, but most generally won't be going out of their way to these stores to pick up candies at prices far higher than in the USA.

I have seen snickers and they have all kinds of special edition kit kats. The green tea kit kats are really good. They also have m&ms,and lindtt chocolate. I miss most of the hostess products. They dont have twinkies here, so i miss them. Same thing with powdered little donughts and cupcakes. They dont have starburst or skittles, but they have an over abundance of mentos and bublegum. My guilty pleasure(circus peanuts) are non existent here, but for whatever reason marshmallows are not cheap.

Thanks for the replies guys. I am surprized snickers isn't there since it's like a really well known candy bar in most countries. I love snickers ... haha maybe I will bring them some.

As for the being too sweet thing, my friend got hooked on twix when she was here ... so idk about that! haha.

I took a variety of different snacks to Japan and one that stood out that everyone seemed to enjoy is Rice Krispy treats !

I lived in tokyo for a year and checked every international grocery stores for some reason no one carries Reese's pieces or Reese Peanut butter cups, they really don't seem to have any peanut butter/chocolate candy

Snickers bars are widely available here in Tokyo at least- they sell them at my local convenience store, and that's not the only place I've seen them.

Reece's cups aren't available here, and they are my favourite American candy!

I don't know if licorice is popular in America, but it isn't available here, and Japanese people generally hate the taste.

Licorice is one thing I could hardly find here in Japan. The thing is that most Japanese people do not like the taste. But it would be fun to bring a small pack for "adventure". Especially, I have never seen cherry-flavored licorice here. And as a Japanese, I think the cherry-flavored ones are much fit for the Japanese taste than the black ones.

Other things I would travel miles to National Azabu Market or wait for weeks to purchase through Foreign Buyers' Club are Pepperidge Goldfish crackers, Hunt's Snack Pack pudding and Kraft's carmel.

Also when it comes to junk food the Japanese are more into strawberry flavor, and cherry flavor is rarely seen. So anything cherry-flavored might be fun.

Not candy, but instant mixes available at your local supermarket will also be nice light-weight souveniors. For example, the Japanese generally like the mixture of macaroni and cheese, but the American "macaroni & cheese" sauce mix is a bit different than the tastes you get in Japan, and this will be a treat.

I have seen Snickers in many different places in Japan!

Rice Krispies
Goldfish [love]
Liquorish [red .. black is gross anyways, haha]
Reeses
mac and cheese .. haha

okay cool, keep them coming ^^

I had a lot of trouble with this when I went to Japan. I ended up bringing some very large cookies, since they tend to have only small cookies in Japan, and are shocked when the see the size of an average American cookie.

I thought of another idea the other day though, when I was at the shore. (At least in New Jersey,) they tend to put taffy in gift boxes with a picture of the beach. It's one of the few American foods I've found that's similar to Japanese omiyage. (It's local and difficult to find elsewhere, it's packaged for gift-giving, etc.) Plus, it's not too sweet. A lot of Japanese people don't like the excessive sweetness of American candy. So, if you're near the ocean, maybe taffy would be a good choice.

Being an Australian, I cannot help...but have a look at http://www.fbcusa.com/public2/ the foreign buyers club. This is a shop that delivers to Japan. They sell Candy that are hard to get here. For example Australian snacks like twisties, Minties, Jelly beans, snakes, chicos etc


We try to buy small packets that we can give out or share

Liqourice is definitely not popular in Japan.
And i'm from Scandinavia where we value our strong/salty liqourice. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmiakki)
I nearly poisoned my teachers at the language school i went to and some of my host family.

Oh yeah! Someone working at the Swedish furniture shop in Japan IKEA gave me a pack of those salty licorice "since no one else is going to eat it" ha!

My Japanese gf hates anything root beer flavored but loves Shredded Wheat and Pringles, especially more exotic flavors.

Salt Water Taffy

Yes I was thinking Salt Water Taffy since I live in Cape Cod ... and it's the birthplace of salt water taffy but I didn't know if it wuould be too sticky?

I am going to be visiting a Japanese family during my tour in August, and trying to think of what to bring. I'm coming from the Boston area, so I was thinking maple sugar candy unless I come up with some sort of cool Red Sox DiceK something. But salt water taffy is readily available and packaged for gift giving.

Any idea on what kind of Red Sox thing I could give to a family of total strangers? That they can't get in Japan if they want it?

I'm not sure if people in tokyo would really know the red sox...i guess Okajima is on the red sox team (im not totally sure) but he's from Kyoto so maybe people would know the red sox better down there..idk. most japanese i know seem to like/know the ny yankees since NY is popular/fashionable

Matsuzaka Daisuke was acquired by the Red Sox for a record breaking 50+ million dollars a few months ago. This tremendously boosted the team's popularity in Japan.

Wow.
I wouldn't be able to live without Skittles and Starburst.