Everything Coming Up Sakura

Staff member Anna will discuss her experiences with the various sakura- flavored products that are a well-worn tradition of the spring season.

Cherry blossoms are an integral part of Japanese culture. Every spring the whole nation it seems is out and about, sitting down in the parks for picnics, and enjoying the fleeting beauty of the pale pink blossoms.

Japan is also big on limited edition, seasonal foods and drinks. Trying new and unusual foods and flavors is practically my hobby, which makes Japan a great country to live in, since you can find at least one crazy limited edition snack at your local convenience store any given time.

Before having visited Japan for the first time I used to believe that if you walked into a large supermarket you would find a long aisle of dozens of weird and wonderful soda flavors such as cucumber, watermelon, cinnamon, garlic, and of course sakura flavor. However, that is far from the truth. If you want to try a specific exotic soft drink flavor, you really need to hunt it down, since they only appear one at a time. Last year I missed the limited edition sakura Pepsi because no shop near me sold it, and because of the start of the Coronavirus I didn’t make a big detour to find a chain that sells it.

Seeing sakura products popping up all over the shops as early as late January/early February is related to the traditions of Wagashi, Japanese style sweets. The intricate shapes of Wagashi are inspired by flowers and other beauties of nature and they are sold before their real counterparts are actually in season. Sweets are therefore connected with the anticipation of the coming season.

Cherry blossom season is extra special since the selection of cherry blossom-flavored items is much bigger than usual for seasonal snacks. This is perhaps due to the overwhelming popularity and ubiquity of sakura in Japanese culture writ large. The sakura items I currently have at my house are sakura-flavored black tea, pure sakura tea, sakura jam, and sakura toothpaste.

Back in 2014 when I visited Japan for the first time, it was during cherry blossom season. In preparation for it I spent my lunch breaks researching exciting things to eat, and I found what I then believed to be the holy grail of sakura themed foods: McDonald’s “Sakura Teritama Burger”.

The Sakura Teritama is a seasonal burger with a pink, cherry blossom flavored bun, a teriyaki glazed pork patty and a fried egg. After exploring the famous fashion street Takeshita Dori in Harajuku, I walked into the Harajuku McDonald’s branch and ordered the “sakura set meal”. I was so excited when I sat down to taste the meal I had been dreaming about. However I must admit, was the second most disappointing burger of my life (topped only by the adorable Mickey Mouse shaped burger in Tokyo Disneyland). The bun tasted very sweet (too sweet), and I was not a fan of the pork patty or the sauce.

But there are also sakura flavored foods that are genuinely delicious. Most of the more traditional, wagashi-style sweets are really good (and yes, you can eat the leaf). Among the more modern, western-style sweets, salty sakura Pocky is very delicious and highly recommended. If I remember correctly the sakura macaron from the Lindt store in Shibuya was one of the best sakura foods I’ve ever had.

Just like the eponymous blossom, sakura-flavored snacks and drinks are ephemeral, disappearing soon after they come into full, spectacular bloom, leaving you with a soft sense of sadness and longing. Not to worry though, matcha will soon be here to fill that void. Such is the perpetual turning and returning of the Japanese seasonal snack industry.

Photo by Masaaki Komori on Unsplash