Chocolate captivating Japan's confectionery world

i am not too sure about these new creations mentioned above but i have to say that the every day inexpensive chocolate in japan is superior!!!! move over hersheys and nestle. hello japanese chocolate.

They don't put as much sugar in the chocolate here as abroad which makes it a very edible delight. Nicknamed "black gold" by the Spanish, the bean-shaped pod is a food that has also been considered a highly beneficial medicine because it contains over 300 identifiable chemical compounds. Pure, raw cacao also has extraordinary potential for helping to support weight loss - quite the opposite from the everyday chocolate bar!

Ah! Now here is a subject I can claim to be an expert in!

Agree sillygirl: Hersheys tastes like the chocolate we used to buy in pet stores for our dog when we were kids (yes, of course I tried it myself but only once!), Nestle is marginally better though, but not by much. I find Cadburys here thebig disappointment - it is made in Australia, ot the UK, and the ingredients mix is slightly different (apparently because it exports to hotter countries so the melting point is higher) but it just doesn`t have the sweetness and creaminess of British Cadbury.

Everyday Japanese chocolate such as Meiji is beautifully sweet though, and GOD BLESS 7-11 for bringing in Twix!

Im a chocolate purist really. I like my chocolate to be chocolate, not sweetened with honey and poured into fermented tofu or any such other concoction. I don`t generally like American chocolate, but a great friend of ours brings me a box of Sees Candies everytime he visits which elevates him up to almost God-like status in my house, and I also like Ghardiellis (sorry, cant remember how to spell it). I find Godivas overpriced for what it is. The greatest chocolate ever though has to be Creme Eggs. 180 kcal in one, you can find your own way of eating it so it lasts longer (I bite the top off, nibble round the edges and then lick out the middle personally) and the sugar rush you get when you reach the fondant in the middle is amazing! Have they got smaller in recent years though, or have I just got bigger? Almost certainly the latter, given what I have just been saying above! ;)

When I first came to Japan the quality of the chocolate was enough to make a girl wanna go home. Now it's a lot better (devastatingly so!) but still takes second place to UK chocolate (Cadbury's, Hotel Chocolat & Terry's) and Swiss Lindt.

Can't remember the last time I had a proper creme egg. Like Nicky I prefer to lick out the middle personally (as opposed to getting a proxy to lick it out for me? tee hee) but then everything I do with chocolate I like to do personally.

Why on earth anyone would want to ruin perfectly good chocolate by adding fermented tofu, green tea, sesame, sasho and all the other stuff mentioned beats me. You can't improve on perfection.

“The essence of creation is knowing how to combine new flavours,”

Then creation can go hang. The essence of good chocolate is don't muck it up with stuff what don't belong.

I have always liked Hershey's for the longest, but as with everything it boils down to a preference. Cadbury for me is way too sweet and the aroma puts me off, don't know why as I do love Chocolate. But the other two would be Swiss chocolates which tastes like heaven, most of their chocolates ovomaltine being one of their best (my favorite) and then we have German Chocolate another winner. Most of their store confectionary chocolate has a very nice and smooth consistency. Most Japanese store chocolates, leave a strange aftertaste in my mouth, don't like it too much, but the some chocolates they sell during Valentine's are absolutely amazing! If Japan were to sell year round Valentine chocolates, I would be big as a house.

What r those gold balls called? Ferrero ro...love them!

I love very bitter deep black chocolate. I freeze it rock hard and it makes me melt.

Japanese chocolate, even the stuff commonly available in supermarkets and convenience stores, is absolutely delicious.

British chocolate is very nice.

American chocolate such as Hershey's is a disgrace.

Japanese chocolate gets the thumbs up from me. The cheap, cheap stuff is OK but if you spend a little more than you usually would, the premium stuff will take the Pepsi challenge from anything else in the world.

If you want to impress Mum or Dad, send them home a box of Mary's chocolate. You will probably only get it from the food level in good department stores but it is all good baby.

Interestingly, chocolate only is popular in countries that have affordable air-conditioned delivery trucks and stores. Chocolate starts to melt at about 30 degrees C, so hot areas cant enjoy good chocolate. Japan was in this boat until about 30 years ago.

Even now in China, with its growing affluence, chocolate is not that popular and foreign companies dominate the market. In Japan, chocolate culture is dominated by Japanese companies.

The essence of good chocolate is don't muck it up with stuff what don't belong.

Thank goodness you werent around when someone with a handful of roasted almonds decided to do the unthinkable and drop them into the mix...

Meiji Macadamia... a box of that is excellent.

Meiji Melty Kiss makes my heart melt in winter.

And my personal favorite... Lotte Rummy! That should be hitting the shops soon and I for one can't wait.

Hershey's chocolate with almonds can't be beat. You can pay more, but it won't be any better.

Thank goodness you werent around when someone with a handful of roasted almonds decided to do the unthinkable and drop them into the mix...

Nuts and chocolate is good. Raisins and chocolate is good. Strawberries and chocolate is good. Digestive biscuits and chocolate is good. Lots of things and chocolate is good. Fermented tofu, green tea, sansho, shichimi and sesame with chocolate is not good.

Hershey's chocolate with almonds, on the other hand, is a waste of perfectly good almonds.

@cleo

The essence of good chocolate is don't muck it up with stuff what don't belong.

Raisins and chocolate is good. Strawberries and chocolate is good.

Fermented tofu, green tea, sansho, shichimi and sesame with chocolate is not good.

I'm not sure I could much agree with you, because you never could expect the outcome. I never knew that chocolate can be mixed with tea until I tried Jeff de Bruges' dark chocolate with Black Tea (which was very interesting for me). Tried chocolate with Green Tea, but found nothing expressive. Mint seems a little vulgar (though can be tried once in a while for a change). For chocolate lovers who eat chocolates every one or two days, refreshing tastes are needed. But if one eats chocolates about once a week, then it seems more important the manufacturer sticks to the basics and have good ingredients.

P.S. Strange, none talked about Belgian as it seems the best to me. Though, as Nicky said, sometimes it's overpriced.

Mixing chocolate with nuts, raisins and caramel is one thing, but TOFU???!!

I agree with Bill Brysons comment on British food: you can go to a restaurant and order "a braised wheel of redcurrant and piquant lamb with a soucant of petits pois placed over a bed of seasons al-dente legumes...and spotted dick for dessert. "You can mess around and dress up our main courses all you like, but dont f*** with our puddings"!!!

Just like with bread, I think the Japanese don't really think this through deeply enough. They put in things that actually don't belong in chocolate. What's next; chocolate with fish roe? I also love Hershey's kisses or some great raisinets! Can't get enough raisins in my chocolate. For me, nuts in Chocolate is an absolute No, no.

I will remain a Hershey's fan because of their century old Hershey Trust:

http://www.hersheytrust.com/hershey_heritage_trusts/index.php

established to care for and educate disadvantaged children

I prefer Leonidas from Belgium but Daffin's from Sharon, PA is very good. I always bring the OLs the giant Hershey's bars, they go over well. As far as inappropriate things in chocolate, I thought the idea of chilis in chocolate was just weird until I tried it.

@gelend

Chili chocolate is nasty. I had some in Korea, OMG it was THE absolutely THE worst!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes the chocolate here! I'm also happy that we can get Cadbury's here, and being Australian, I'm super happy that it's ours (sorry)! Can get fruit and nut bars at our local super. Yay!

When I first came to Japan the quality of the chocolate was enough to make a girl wanna go home. Now it's a lot better (devastatingly so!) but still takes second place to UK chocolate (Cadbury's, Hotel Chocolat & Terry's) and Swiss Lindt.

Oohh! Now I have to disagree. Cringing when seeing the word Cadbury! No need to reply, but did you discover Lotte, Meiji, Furuya, for example? If you did and did not appreciate them, then, well, of course, the saying stands, there's no arguing about taste, something that has come up before in discussions you took part in. Which is not meant as criticism. Visiting a large supermarket you see row after row stuffed with different kinds of chocolate, in bags or bars. There are enough kinds to provide something new for weeks, months, almost years, Try something new and review/revise your Cadbury image. If nothing changes, it will also indicate something about the rest of your diet - or is it the brain that sets the perimeters?

did you discover Lotte, Meiji, Furuya, for example?

Yes, and they're nice. Like I said, things have improved a lot in the last 30 years. The darker chocolates are very nice. But, and I realise that this is totally subjective, they're not the best. Fine for everyday nibbling, but a celebration demands Hotel Chocolat or Lindt. Cadbury and the other UK brands from my childhood are probably more nostalgia than anything else, but then we all know that chocolate speaks to more than just the tastebuds. The chocolate I eat does, anyway.....Yup, where chocolate is concerned I think it is the brain that sets the perimeters.

I think a lot has to do with how you grew up and the chocolate that you ate as a child in many ways can mold your taste buds and brain to being bias towards particular brands of Chocolate or the aroma of the chocolate, the smoothness and texture. Growing up half of my life between the states and Germany, I have had enough chances to try everything that is chocolate out there, but my culinary chocolate tastes generally love American, hershey's and also "See's" and other high end American Chocolates such as Amano Artisan Chocolates, De Vries, Mast Brothers and Patric to name a few. Most of the German Chocolates are pleasing to the palette IMO. These chocolates can be a bit more pricey, but they are worth every penny. I always try to keep an open mind when it comes to chocolates, I never liked the Cadbury chocolate, not my cup of tea, not putting it down, just too sweet for me, gives me a headache and that is OK because we are talking about individual tastes and tastes can be quite complex sometimes, after all, it has to stimulate the senses as well as your taste buds.

Been here 26 years and have never liked any J-choco of any kind, most of it is bland and tastes cheap. I'm a Cadbury guy but only the thicker stuff. Chocolate bars need to be at least 1/3" thick so you can really get a grip on'em with yer teeth and crunch on a satisfying mouthful, preferable with nuts or raisins inside. J-choco bars are way too thin and give no satisfaction to the mouth in either texture or volume.

Always been partial to Ghirardelli, but like Lindt and Cadbury as well.

If you want good chocolate, buy ASDA from Seiyu. Its British and made in germany.