Yaokin

Yaokin has been making dagashi — Japan's beloved cheap sweets — since 1954, but their place in history was secured in 1979 when they launched Umaibo: a hollow puffed corn stick, 11 centimetres long, in an ever-expanding range of flavours, at a price of 10 yen. They held that price for over forty years. When production costs finally forced a rise to 12 yen in 2022, it made national news. Umaibo now comes in over 20 flavours — corn potage, cheese, mentaiko, tonkatsu sauce — each one a small, inexpensive, surprisingly good argument for not overcomplicating things.

4 products