Have you heard of the “dagashi” that has captivated a great many Japanese?
In a word dagashi are just sweets, but we Japanese draw a clear distinction between regular sweets and dagashi.
The clearest divide between the two is how much they cost. In general, anything over 100 yen is not considered dagashi. Most dagashi can be bought at a price from around 10 to 50 yen.
Until around thirty years ago, there were dagashi stores all over the country, but these days with the rise of convenience stores and the declining birthrate they have decreased significantly. Even so, dagashi are still a part of Japanese life, with dagashi shops being readily found in shopping areas, and supermarkets and convenience stores having their own dagashi corners.
Another charm of dagashi shops is that they are a place where children have an opportunity to grow, as they calculate by themselves what candy they can afford to buy with the 100 yen they are holding, and get an early start on managing money on their own. It is also interesting to see the unique naming conventions of dagashi.
With a variety of actual dagashi with names like “Yocchan,” “Black Thunder,” “Umaibo”, “Don’t Laze About”, and “Cocoa Cigarette”, not even Japanese people really understand the sense behind the strange names.
Once you get used to going to the dagashi shop, you can insert yourself into the lively conversations between the children and the old lady who runs the store, hearing comments like “This one has more candy inside, so its a better deal!” or “If you buy it from this store you’re more likely to win more candy!” or “Can you really stay in business selling cheap products like this?”
Similar to adults and izakaya, dagashi used to be a hub for socializing.
Even now, the dagashi shop is a place for children to immerse themselves in exciting new things even as adults immerse themselves in nostalgia- both of them filling their baskets with candy. Dagashi is like a type of soul food for the Japanese that has been beloved across generations.
If you find yourself looking at cheap sweets while travelling in Japan, chances are they are dagashi! With such cheap sweets being so easy on your wallet, they are recommended as an instant purchase.