“I love the sweets at the Japanese convenience store [conbini]. In particular I love their thick chocolate cake. It's a good thing that the price is reasonable. When I go back to Italy I buy a lot of them and give them to people as gifts.” (Italy/woman)

“The quality of the sweets at Japanese convenience stores is high. I love the dorayaki they sell at the conbini. The red bean cream is not dry and it’s a perfect match with tea. Traditional Japanese sweets are really good.” (UK/woman)

Even Japanese people sometimes are surprised, recently, by the quality of the sweets at the convenience stores. They are getting attention from foreign tourists as well. It’s not rare to also be impressed by such a cheap price, for such high quality.

The sweets at pastry shops are very good, but we can’t let go of the conbini's sweets, because they are always easily accessible.

“When it comes to Japanese souvenirs, the first that comes to mind should be beauty products. When you go to the pharmacy there are high-quality creams, beauty oils, and other products, sold at low prices. So I can’t help but buying a lot of them. Once you start using Japanese beauty products, you won’t be able to go back.” (Philippines/woman)

Japanese beauty products are on the way to becoming the main souvenir for foreigners who visit the country. There's a bus tour which stops at famous beauty-product stores and foreigners buy a lot of stuff there. Usually we don’t really think about it, but this made me realize that the quality of things “made in Japan” is really good.

“Recently the things that I bought on impulse in Japan are bibs with illustration of Kintaro and Momotaro. I saw them at a department store and fell in love on sight, and I was impressed by this interesting idea. Since Japanese department stores have a lot of unique products, I never get bored when I go there.” (Italy/Woman)

“At a Japanese department store I bought a toy that looked like a fried egg. I was surprised that it looked so much like an egg. I bought as a souvenir because it looked yummy and my friends would like it as a present.” (UK/Woman)

I never heard of bibs with images of Kintaro and Momotaro, who are characters of Japanese old folk stories. I wonder where they were sold. I want to give them to my foreign friends as a present.

“I was incredible how delicious okonomiyaki was. At first sight when I saw it all mixed up with the other ingredients, I thought it was unappetizing, but when I tried it, I really liked it. The difference between its looks and its taste, surprised me. You can cook it relatively easily, using minced vegetables or seafood, and it would be a good snack for kids. I would like to try and make it in Italy as well.” (Italy/woman)

Okonomiyaki is one of the most loved soul foods in Japan. If you have cabbage and eggs, you can make it easily at home, and what's even better is that you can enjoy many flavors, depending on what you put in it (pork, squid, shrimp, and more). It was unexpected because okonomiyaki is a normal dish to Japanese people, but foreigners like it too!

“Konpeito caught my attention at the souvenir store. In a transparent jar, they were so beautiful. I put it in tea instead of regular sugar and it made it very pretty. I almost didn’t want to eat it!” (UK/woman)

Konpeito is a Japanese traditional snack. Since we are so used to it, we don’t notice its beauty. It could be that its shape is eye catchy. It’s really pretty, looking like a start in the sky. Konpeito is not only for children, in fact, it makes even an adult lady happy.

“When I come to Japan, I go to the grocery store and buy dressings and spreads as souvenir. Japanese dressings are really good and cheap, useful at home. I like sesame dressing in particular. I cannot eat salad without Japanese dressing. The spread that you put on bread makes toasted bread delicious! I always buy it and I never get bored of it because it comes in so many flavors.” (Philippines/woman)

Buying dressings and spreads at the grocery store as a souvenir is very unexpected. I heard people from other Asian countries buy dressings, but now I can confirm it!

“Green tea snacks are a classic, but you cannot miss them. I liked the green tea pancake, so I bought 10 of them for my friends and family. They liked it, because it’s delicious and not at all dry. It’s a shame that you can find it only in Japan.” (Philippines/woman)

“Green tea snacks are delicious indeed. I brought green tea chocolate back home. I bought a lot of it for myself. I love it because the green tea flavor makes me feel like I'm in Japan.” (Italy/woman)

“When I went to the grocery store in Japan, I bought green tea powder as a souvenir because it was inexpensive. When I went to Kyoto, I had real green tea and dango, and it was so good I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I want to experience the scent of rich green tea at home as well.” (UK/woman)

I knew green tea snacks were popular among foreigners. Since they come to Japan, they tend to buy Japanese snacks.

So how was it? Even if it’s nothing for us Japanese people, tourists from abroad could find items that can only be bought in Japan. We know that visitors tend like delicious, unique, valuable stuff that they cannot buy elsewhere.