Japan's Dagashi & Snack Culture

About this book

English books about Japanese sweets stop at the tea room. This book goes to the other sweet shop — the dagashiya, where ten yen once ruled the world.

200 entries in eight parts, each in one fixed format — What It Is, Taste & Texture, In the Shop, How to Enjoy, and Culture Note. Forty classic sweets from konpeito stars to whistle candy; chocolate, gum and candy toys you build yourself; the savoury half of the shop — umaibo sticks, the great cutlet impersonation, squid, kelp and crackers; ramune bottles, powder drinks, jellies and frozen tubes; thirty entries on the shops themselves — glass jars, buying by weight, pocket money, wholesalers, dagashi bars and the survivors; prizes, lotteries and stencil-cutting games; regional and festival sweets from Okinawa to Hokkaido; and practical chapters for building a 500-yen haul, hosting a tasting, and planning your first dagashiya route.

Real product names appear as factual introduction only — no maker is ranked against another. Prices are small-coin guides confirmed in November 2026; the shelf ticket on the day is always the authority.

Written and created in Japan by Japanese author Aki Wakamatsu. Published by Takikawa TOKOTOKO Kids LLC, a Japanese publisher in Hokkaido, Japan. Authentic Japanese content, carefully made in Japan — not mass-produced.