Pink fever hits Japan!
Hanami or cherry blossom season isn’t just a feast for the eyes! This yearly phenomenon also ushers in heaps of limited edition merchandize dedicated to the delicate pink flower so you can literally taste the season too.
For diehard sakura-lovers, here’s a list of cherry blossom-themed products over the years you might find on your upcoming trip to Japan!
1. Asahi Cherry Blossom Beers
Source: Pinterest
Japanese beer brand Asahi rolled out a vibrant pink packaging for a refreshing take on everyone’s favourite beer. Colourful packaging aside, Asahi also celebrated its 30th anniversary with a vibrant pink Clear Asahi Sakura Beer! We recommend drinking from a frosted beer mug for maximum effect.
Where to find these:
Readily available at convenience stores across Japan.
2. Sakura Sake
Source: 11street.my
These bottles of cherry blossom sake are almost too beautiful to drink. Each bottle comes with a whole sakura flower – perfectly preserved in full bloom.
Source: imgrum.org
If a whole sakura flower isn’t enough for you, how about one with gold flakes floating around for the ultimate luxury drinking experience?
We hear these bottles cost just SGD8!
Where to find these:
Don Quijote stores across Japan.
3. Calbee Sakura Potato Chips
Source: tokyocheapo.com
Source: Pinterest
We’re not quite sure how these taste but they’re definitely popular! Apart from their fresh potato chips, Calbee stores in Japan are also well-stocked with interesting flavours like cherry blossom flavoured purple potato chips and cherry blossom prawn crackers.
Even if you’re not a big fan of Calbee, the packaging makes these chips pretty hard to resist!
Where to find these:
Calbee stores across Japan.
4. Starbucks Sakura Latte
Source: @rainbowholic on Instagram
In Japan you can actually get your Starbucks from 7-11! In celebration of the season, Starbucks rolled out a cherry blossom strawberry latte that looks almost as good as it tastes.
Where to find these:
Readily available at convenience stores across Japan.
5. Sakura Kit Kat
Source: kavenyou.com and therantingpanda.com
Kit Kat also doesn’t miss out on the fun with unique Spring-themed flavours being pushed out every cherry blossom season. With flavours like Sakura & Roasted Soy Bean, Matcha Sakura and even Sake, who knows what they’ll come up with this year?
Where to find these:
Readily available at convenience stores across Japan.
6. Sakura Coca-Cola
Source: Pinterest
We’re guessing this will probably taste like cherry coke but better? The bottle also makes for an attractive souvenir!
Where to find these:
Readily available at convenience stores across Japan.
7. Sakura Cherry Milk Tea
Source: Twitter
Whenever you think of royal milk tea in Japan, you’ll definitely think of Kocha Kaden. This local favourite contains REAL cow’s milk unlike many other teas, which makes this drink exceptionally delicious.
Where to find these:
Readily available at convenience stores and vending machines across Japan.
8. Lipton Cherry Blossom Tea Bags
Source: RocketNews24 and Qoo10
Get your hands on some sakura Lipton tea! If a box of 12 isn’t enough for you, you can even by them in sachets containing 100 pieces each.
Where to find these:
Readily available at grocery stores across Japan.
9. Sakura Pepsi
Source: jpinfo.com
Pink pepsi anybody?
Where to find these:
Readily available at convenience stores across Japan.
10. Sakura Udon
Source: japan-guide.com
The best comfort food in Japan one can have comes in the form of a steaming hot bowl of udon or ramen, especially when it’s pink! You won’t be able to taste much of the cherry blossom, but definitely makes for an interesting dining option!
Where to find these:
Seasonal menu item available at a handful of restaurants. Ask the wait staff!
11. Sakura Taiyaki
Source: Pinterest
Normal taiyakis are cute, but pink ones are even cuter! These come filled with your typical red bean paste, but some stalls offer unique filling in flavours like chestnut.
Where to get these:
Street food vendors should have them if you’re lucky!
Sakura mania!
Have you gotten pink fever yet? The cherry blossom season runs from as early as January to as late as May every year! If you’re planning a trip to Japan right now, here’s some travel essentials you’ll need for your next holiday:
