How Did Chocolate Start?

Chocolate was first consumed by various civilizations in South America who would take the cacao beans to make a warm drink called ”chocolatl”, which means “warm liquid”. When Hernando Cortez encountered the Aztecs, he brought it back to Spain where sugar was added along with other spices. The first solid chocolate was sold in 1847 in England, and milk chocolate was conceived in Sweden about 30 years later.

Chocolate has taken over the world since, and is known for its addicting, love-inspiring wonder. It took a while for it to get to Japan, however.

“Give Me Chocolate!”- The Reception

Japan had a few encounters with chocolate before they ended their isolation period. One of the few groups of people allowed into the country were Dutch, and sometimes brought the chocolate drink that had become popular among high-end people in Europe.  The first solid bar of chocolate sold in Japan is said to have been in the Meiji era, and was marketed as チョコレート , but with the kanji 貯古齢糖. Interestingly, those kanji individually mean “save”, “old”, “age”, and “sugar”. I think it kind of fits.

Chocolate started really being consumed during the occupation, when American soldiers would often throw candy to groups of Japanese children. Because of this, at this time one of the first English phrases that was learned and used by Japanese children was “Give me chocolate!”

So chocolate as it is today became mass produced after the occupation time. That means it is much newer to Japan than compared to the Americas or Europe. So what has been done in that little time?

So What’s The Spin?

There’s just something about Japanese chocolate that makes it unique. Is it the fact that each bite-sized piece is individually pre-cut or wrapped? Is it the fact that milk chocolate sometimes has a little bit of hazelnut flavor added to it? Is it the fact that it has a more creamy, melty, chocolatey taste? Who knows.

One of the biggest selling points of Japanese chocolate, though, is the sheer variety of flavors. Technically, many of them don’t actually count as chocolate because they don’t have cacao in them. However, popular definition deems them still chocolate, and the multitude of types and flavors is awe-inspiring.

One thing that Japan likes doing with any sort of product or marketing is regional limited editions. One fantastic example of this is Kit Kat, where there have been over 200 and counting various flavors. Ever wanted to try a wasabi-flavored Kit Kat? What about strawberry shortcake? Soy sauce? My favorite is the sweet-potato flavored one. Back in my exchange student days, I would buy a sweet potato flavored Kit Kat bar almost every day in the fall from the convenience store attached to the train station near my school. I was addicted.

Another delicious regional chocolate is Meltykiss. Meltykiss usually appears around winter, and is a delicious melty, rich, creamy chocolate. Think like the inside of a truffle. Meltykiss also comes in a good variety of flavors including green tea, strawberry, and milk tea.

Other delicious spins include chocoballs (literally just balls of chocolate), Koala no march, and the ever-famous Pocky. Which one is your favorite?

The Big Five

In Japan, there are five distinct mainstream snack brands: Lotte, Meiji, Morinaga, Ezaki Glico, and Fujiya. All have their own gimmicks and different delicious types of chocolates. Think of them like the Hershey’s, Nestle’s, and Mars of Japan.

In this clip from the TV show Gaki no Tsukai, the members of the show do a blind test of different kinds of chocolate bars. They have a hard time distinguishing between them. Would you?

Which Japanese chocolate brand is your favorite? Mine is kind of a tie between Meiji (after all, according to their commercials, chocolate IS Meiji) and Dars.

Chocolate and Valentine’s Day

In Japan, Valentine’s Day has sort of turned into “chocolate day”. When the holiday first became popular, it was known as a day when girls confessed their love to a boy by giving him chocolate. But somewhere throughout the past thirty years or so, girls must have said “why don’t we get any chocolate?”, and now chocolate is given to everyone and by everyone. I mean, think of it in this example: Nao made homemade namachoco for her friends Naho and Rumi, but it would be rude to just give it to those two, so she has to make enough for all of her female classmates. And then, what about her best friends in other classes? And club-mates?

To mend this problem of chocolate-hoarding, often on Valentine’s day you’ll see girls walking around with a big bag full of chocolates to give to every single person who is her friend (those chocolates are called tomo-choko [friend-chocolate]) and anyone she feels obligated to give chocolate to (giri-choko [obligation-chocolate]). To read more about this, check out Koichi’s old post about Valentine’s Day in Japan.

Other than plain chocolate, making chocolate truffles, cookies, or decoration chocolates are all well-received and can be fun to make. On the Valentine’s Day that I spent in Japan, I remember eating chocolate throughout the day, kind of like how I did in America, but this time it was mostly home-made and hand-wrapped.

If you know that you’re receiving tomo-choko, consider yourself lucky! Especially if you didn’t give anything back. But don’t worry if you forgot, you can always repay the person who gave you chocolate by giving them a present back a month later on White Day, March 14th.

Japanese Chocolate Creativity

Anything in the world is just a canvas for art, right? Well it is to these creative chocolate artists:

Want to prank someone into thinking that you’re giving them sushi, takoyaki, or much-loved natto? Well, there’s chocolate for that. Imagine their face when they open up the natto wrapper to find, ew, chocolate instead of their favorite food of smelly fermented soybeans.

Or make an iPhone out of chocolate!

These adorable girls can teach you how to make a chocolate cake in a rice cooker. Ghana seems to be the chocolate of choice when it comes to cooking and baking.

As you can see, chocolate is loved and used in Japan just as much as the rest of the world. What other kinds of creative ways do you think people can use chocolate in?

Can’t Get Enough?

If this post has left you drooling for chocolate (I scream, you scream, we all scream for chocolate ice cream!), here’s a few Japanese chocolate-inspired songs to curb (or inflame) your desire for chocolate, so you can even think about chocolate when you’re out and about!

Chocolate Disco by Perfume

Bitter Chocolate by SCANDAL

So what is Japan’s relationship with chocolate? I’d say that Japan is just as crazy about chocolate as any other country. Although their consumption rates are lower than most European countries and the US, when you take into account how much later it was introduced to the country, they could be catching up! Better chocolate than never!

So what do you think of Japanese chocolate? Or chocolate in general? Let me know in the comments!

Bonus Wallpapers

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A lot of the souvenirs I bought with specific people in mind but there was one gift I knew I could buy in bulk and have absolutely no problem giving away or keeping for myself: Haichu.

Haichu (also called “Hi-Chew” outside of Japan) is a chewy Japanese fruit candy. The analogy I usually like to use is that it’s like Japanese Starburst, but that’s an incredible insult to Haichu.

Every Type of Haichu You Can Imagine

One of the best things about Japanese foods is the incredible amount of variety. In the US, a candy bar is a candy bar is a candy bar; it’s the same whether you buy it in New York or California, in winter or summer.

But Japan has a knack for mixing it up, creating seasonal and regional varieties of a lot of different types of food, making it incredibly rewarding to spend embarrassing amounts of money on candy.

And I definitely spent more than I should have on candy. Here are some of the different types of Haichu I picked up while in Japan:

Haichu Premium

Haichu Premium is a newer type of Haichu that’s different from regular Haichu. They’re a little bigger, round, and not quite as rubbery. To appeal to a more adult market, Haichu Premium is only available in wine flavors.

Shinshu Apple Haichu

Passing through Nagano, I picked up a pack of Haichu that tastes like Shinshu apple, a regional specialty. Absolutely delicious!

Yubari Melon Haichu

The northern island of Hokkaido is known for its specialty Yubari canteloupe melons. This variety of Haichu is, as far as I know, only available in Hokkaido.

Soda and Cola Haichu

Like the Japanese candy Puccho, soda and cola Haichu each have little pellets of flavor hidden inside of the candy. Good stuff!

Strawberry Shortcake Haichu

As you might already know, Christmas in Japan is celebrated with strawberry shortcake. So of course, it makes sense of Morinaga to cash in on the tradition and make tiny, bite-sized strawberry shortcake Haichu.

It makes even more sense that I would buy them in bulk at a discount price a month after Christmas. How could I say no?

And that’s only the Haichu that caught my eye in Japanese stores. Like Pocky, there are countless other limited edition, seasonal, and regional varieties of Haichu that can satisfy any taste.

For me though, Haichu’s appeal goes beyond its different flavors. Once I learned about its history, I was really sold.

The Man Behind Haichu

I loaded up on Haichu while we were in Japan, but it wasn’t until after I got back that I learned about the history behind it, the company that makes it, and the man who started it all.

Haichu is made by a Japanese company called Morinaga that was founded way back in the 1800^s by a man named Taichiro Morinaga.

I should have known that Morinaga was awesome without even looking, because it seems like all of the founders of Japanese corporations (like the founders of Nissin or Toshiba) were all badasses.

Taichiro (the man) came from the boonies of Japan in the late 1800^s, and didn’t have any sort of education. He moved to the US in his twenties to seek opportunity (as a lot of people did back then).

It was in the US that he had his first-ever piece of candy and it blew his mind. Taichiro decided that he needed to share this incredible discovery with his home country.

To make a long story incredibly short, Taichiro moved back to Japan and founded Morinaga & Company. Morinaga & Co. was the first company to ever produce chocolate in Japan, and came up with Haichu.

There are different stories about how Haichu was invented. Some say that Taichiro wanted to put a Japanese spin on the caramel candy he’d tried in the US; other people say that Taichiro wanted to make something closer to gum.

We might not know for sure why exactly Morinaga came up with Haichu, but I know one thing for sure: as the dentist is pulling my cavity-ridden teeth, I’ll be cursing Taichiro Morinaga and his delicious, delicious invention.

Bonus Wallpapers!

Our wonderful illustrator Aya has cooked up some wallpapers of the header image to this post. Enjoy!

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There’s probably no better descriptor for the whimsical, gigantic candy industry in Japan. For some, Japan is the mecca of candy. Year after year its companies pour out incredibly novel candies that would astonish even Roald Dahl.

Among all of those sweets, one stands above all the rest: chocolate. Chocolate has gained a lot of significance in Japanese culture and society. It’s not only an everyday treat, but it can have a lot of symbolism too.

For example Valentine’s Day in Japan, like in the US, is a very chocolate-centric holiday; however, unlike the US, different types of chocolate have very different meanings. God forbid you give giri, not honmei chocolate to that one special person.

And the Japanese are getting better and better at making the stuff. Last year a Japanese chocolatier, Susumu Koyama, was declared “Best Foreign Chocolatier” at the 17^th annual Salon du Chocolat, a French chocolate tradeshow. From the low-end sweets to the high-end, gourmet chocolates, Japan dominates when it comes to chocolate.

Because of chocolate’s importance in Japan, it’s maybe not surprising that the Japanese take chocolate very seriously. In fact, the regulation of chocolate in Japan is extremely strict.

Part of any government’s job is to make sure that people aren’t mislead when they buy things. For example, when a company calls a food “organic” or “local,” those labels have specific meanings set by the government. Same thing with chocolate. You can’t just call anything “dark chocolate” — it has to meet certain standards.

And is it local?

It turns out the Japanese government has some of the strictest chocolate standards in the world. You’d think that Switzerland or Belgium or some other place known for its chocolates would be more serious about it, but it turns out that the Japanese are basically second to none.

In 1971, the Japanese Fair Trade Commission was granted sweeping powers to regulate chocolate to make sure that Japanese customers know exactly what they’re getting.

All in all, the Fair Trade Commission classifies six types of “chocolate materials” that are used to make up four types of “chocolate products.” They are:

Chocolate Materials

• Pure chocolate material (純チョコレート生地)
• Pure milk chocolate material (純ミルクチョコレート生地)
• Chocolate material (チョコレート生地)
• Milk chocolate material (ミルクチョコレート生地)
• Quasi chocolate material (準チョコレート生地)
• Quasi milk chocolate material (準ミルクチョコレート生地)

Each of these have to have very specific percentages of various ingredients — cocoa, milk fat, etc.. Otherwise it’s, in the eyes of the Fair Trade Commission, misrepresenting itself. Out of those materials, you can make any of four chocolate products:

Chocolate Products

• Chocolate (チョコレート)
• Chocolate sweet (チョコレート菓子)
• Quasi chocolate (準チョコレート)
• Quasi chocolate sweet (準チョコレート菓子)

Confusing? Absolutely. I don’t think that I’ve ever closely inspected a chocolate bar to really care about its cocoa content, or a palate sophisticated enough to really tell the difference.

Regardless, it’s good to see that within the confines of his factory Willy Wonka-san is keeping tight control over things. Don’t want too many Augustus Gloops running around ruining things.

Types of chocolate