What Dagashi Are: Japan's Penny Sweets
Dagashi are the small, cheap sweets and snacks of Japanese childhood. They sit at the opposite end of Japanese confectionery from the refined sweets served with tea.
The word
Dagashi refers to cheap candies and snack foods in Japan. The usual English comparison is American penny candy: inexpensive, colourful and bought a few at a time, often by children with pocket money.
Dagashi and wagashi
Wagashi is traditional Japanese confectionery, typically made from plant-based ingredients, with an emphasis on the seasons, and often served with green tea. Dagashi is the everyday, playful counterpart: less about ceremony and more about small treats.
Old sweets that stayed
- KonpeitÅ is a small sugar candy with a bumpy surface. It was introduced from Portugal as a sugar-coated confection and later became an all-sugar sweet.
- KarintÅ is a sweet, deep-fried snack made mainly from flour, yeast and brown sugar.
- Ramune is a carbonated soft drink sold in a Codd-neck bottle, sealed by a glass marble held against a rubber washer. Pushing the marble down opens the bottle.
Why people collect them
Part of the appeal is design: bright wrappers, mascots and small toys. Part is memory; adults buy the snacks they remember from school days. That is why dagashi turn up in souvenir shops and gift boxes as well as on corner-shop shelves.
Wrappers change often. If you are hunting for one particular snack, check the maker's own site rather than an old photo.
Restocked 2026-10-22