My last visit to Japanese food store Sunrise Mart (close to Purl Soho in NYC) was a big success: my Botan Rice Candy boxes both came with awesome stickers!
A dog wearing a green suit is holding a box of donuts and making “mog-mog” chewing sounds. This is an excellent sticker. The squirrel on a mushroom is a little less impressive, but he’s cute, and the weirdly slapdash illustrations of the mushrooms are pretty funny.
As I recently elaborated in an interview with awesome 15-year-old blogger Alex, Botan Rice Candy is my favorite because it has edible rice wrappers that crinkle in your mouth, and each package comes with a sticker that looks like it was designed sometime in the mid-20th century. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Japan over the years, but I’ve never seen these “Made in Japan” candies anywhere in that country; they seem to be a treat unique to Asian food stores in the US.
For more critiques of Botan Rice Candy stickers, check out my archived posts.
And what do you do with your stickers?
anna,you know how you have a secret new book ? is the subject sea creatures?
I love the idea of the Botan Rice Candy, but I’ve never seen it in any of the Japanese food markets in the Boston area. Tons of Meiji chocolates, Pocky and milk tea candies (which I love).
It is tradition in our family to put Botan Rice Candy in our Christmas Stockings, then promptly transfer it to the pantry, where it sits forgotten until the next year!
love it!!!
I need some!!!!
Let’s just hope its also available in my local Asian food store… I MUST HAVE IT.
Haven’t looked for it here for years but will look for it next time. It really is good stuff!