Hi! It is the blog, How Unique Japan again!
At this time, I would love to introduce some Japanese traditional snacks named Dagashi.
Da means row quality/price, and Gashi (Kashi) means just snacks. Why are they named row quality/price? So, please look at the picture below.
What do you think about them? I assume you would say, Oh, so tiny!
It is right! Each of them is extremely small. It is sure that if you are over the adult, just one product never makes you satisfied. So, the Dagashi arms to the very young generation.
Thus, they are cheap, and low quality. Those would be around ten sent and fifteen sent, depending on the size. (In fact, there are some expensive ones. But it would be about one dollar.)
The history
Why do such products exist? The origin was born in the Edo era (1603 – 1868 AC). At that time, they were from Millet or Syrup. They soon became popular among the children due to the price.
When Japan was in the Shouwa era (1926 – 1989), we got the first baby boom around 1947 – 1950 AC. So, there were many, many children in poor conditions to live. That situation boosted any snack company up. Besides, after World War 2 ended, Japan eliminated the sugar control.
So, it was time for them to create new inventions for the Dagashi. At that time, Caramels are a popular product for the companies.
That is the reason and history why there are many Dagashi in Japan.
OK. Let’s see some products. However, please keep it in mind before reading them. These are just a few examples below because it would be impossible to contain all Dagashi in just one page.
There are 5000 kinds of dagashi in Japan. (!!!)
Some introductions of the Dagashi
- Yoguru
This one (picture on the right side) could be a good example. It is Yoguru. It sounds like the yogurt pronunciation without the t sound. As the name already said, it is not a real one.
Why is it like that? It is simple. It was too expensive to consume for the middle/row crass people at that time (the Shouwa era). Thus, many snack companies tried to imitate the real taste with much cheaper ingredients to get children satisfied. The yoguru, is made with basically Glucose, Emulsifier, Sugar, Shortening, etc. Taste was umm, so-so. It was like sour cream with sugar. (I tried).
- Premium Ham Cutlet taste
It is named Premium Ham Katsu taste. However, it does not contain any meat. It is thus very cheap (only three sent).
Could you guess what the ingredient is? It was the pest of fish! But please trust me. That was interestingly close to the thin cutlet with many sources on it! (I tried).
From those explanations, it is clear that the imitation taste of real food is the popular way for Dahashi. So, many Japanese children really enjoy such a taste.
There is one more reason it became popular among them. Children can consume their own food like their parents always prepare. So, some children love to imitate themselves like adults. That is why those snacks got their heart.
The last example would explain well about such a behavior of a child.
- Cocoa cigarette
Wait, cigarette? Please do not yell at me. But it is a real one of the product. It is named Cocoa Cigarette. As you see, it imitates a real one. However, it is from Sugar, Glucose, Dextrin, Cocoa powder, etc. Some children enjoy imitating adults with that (For example, having it between an index finger and middle finger).
It is another reason the dagashi culture has lasted and loved for so long.
So, it is always close to Japanese children, and they get fascinated with it. It is Dagashi.
That’s all this time! Thank you so much to all the readers who visited this article! If you are curious about more Japanese uniqueness, please check the front page of this blog. You might find more interesting articles.
OK now. See you for the next article!