Novelty snacks and candies in Tokyo

Japan has a thing for toilets. Not only is the nation home to the most cutting-edge lavatories in the world, it also has the most pocket-friendly version, too. For ¥300, you get to sip soda from a handheld and perfectly hygienic toilet. Yum. Just pour drinking water and the packet of flavouring into the water tank and wait until the solution overflows into the bowl – voila! The latest edition even lets you decorate your miniature toilet with stickers. We’re not kidding.

A piece of this sugarless chewing gum a day keeps the dentist away – apparently – which is ironic since rumour has it that there are even more dentists than convenience stores in Tokyo. We’re guessing nobody has the time to brush their teeth twice a day in one of the busiest and most hardworking cities in the world.

Enjoy playing with your food? These DIY candy kits will have you making soda- or fruit- flavoured ‘sushi’, ‘ramen’, ‘pizza’, ‘taiyaki’ (fish- shaped cake) and ‘doughnuts’. You can even make your own savoury ‘burger’ snacks. All the tools and moulds you need are in the box, along with the flavouring pastes and powders. While most of these candies or snacks do not require any actual cooking as the solution solidifies at room temperature, the more elaborate recipes might call for the use of a microwave.

Not content with just chewing on sweets? There are hand-shaped candies you can play rock-paper- scissors with, and even some with a hole in the middle that double as a whistle. Who needs expensive board games when you can get these cheap and edible thrills for ¥100 or less?

Snack flavours in Japan are as bizarre and intriguing as the country’s subcultures. Think salmon-flavoured candies, vegetable-flavoured chocolates for kids who won’t eat their veggies, eggs Benedict-flavoured potato crisps, grilled lamb-flavoured caramel and – get this – chewing gum that will apparently make you smell better. This gum instantly sold out on its first appearance in 2006 because it not only helps with bad breath but the rose fragrance and menthol are said to help mask body odour, too. New snack flavours come out almost on a monthly basis; it sure looks like someone’s going crazy in the R&D lab and nothing is off limits.

Eating chocolate tidily is no easy task: if it’s too hot it melts, and if you hold it in your hands for too long it turns into a sticky mess. That’s why non-melting chocolate, which preserves its shape and texture even on the hottest of days, could very well be the best thing since sliced bread. This is all thanks to a baked outer layer, which also helps preserve the smooth texture of the goodness inside.