KitKat

Most times in Japan, as foreigners, all we have to go on is pure observation. Actually, our observations are even less revealing than one might think since we don't read Japanese!

Nevertheless, one of my favorite places to wander around gleaning Japanese culture is the grocery store. Even though I can't read Japanese, I do know my way around the produce section--not only because I'm a dietitian, but also because most fruits and vegetables are identifiable without knowing how to read kanji! (And, BTW, if there are two or three variations of a fruit or vegetable, I always pick the most expensive one, since I've been told these are most likely to be Japanese and not Chinese.)

But identifying most any other product for the first time is like craps shooting. For example, when I bought miso, there were about 20 different products on the shelf and after several minutes of "pure observation," I just closed my eyes and picked one. (Luckily, miso or fermented soybean paste, is very salty and it goes far and keeps forever, so I haven't needed to buy more.) You might remember I had a similar experience buying soy sauce for the first time.

Well, a random observation we've made in Japan is that KitKat candy is popular. Every few months there seems to be one or two new seasonal flavors on the candy shelf. I first noticed key lime in the summer, hazelnut and caramel in the fall, and cherry blossom and strawberry recently. In fact, KitKats are one of the few candies that you can buy in bulk (like a bag of Halloween candy) in Japan.

I recently found out why these things are so popular; the Japanese word kito means “sure” and katsu means “win.” Hence, KitKat (kito katsu) could be translated as “sure win” or “certain victory.” That's why Japanese parents tuck KitKat bars into their children’s lunch boxes to wish them good luck on their exams. I guess I'd buy a whole bag, too, if I thought they were good luck.