WTF? Bizarre Japanese Food & Drinks

We like to think of ourselves as food adventurers, but some strange Japanese food and drink proves that we're not as open minded as we thought. Check out 12 bizarre Japanese food & drinks... most of which we're shamed to admit that we're afraid to try.

Wasabi Beer

A nice cold beer sounds great after a hard day, but wasabi beer sounds less than refreshing.

Octopus Ice Cream

If you thought Japanese red bean ice cream was weird then you should try Octopus ice cream.

Okonomiyaki (Japesene Pancakes)

Okonomiyaki, known as Japanese pancakes or as Japanese pizza isn't really much like either. Made with batter (hence the pancake reference) and covered with toppings (which may have inspired the pizza connection) Okonomiyaki is usually topped with ingredients like cabbage, vegetables, mayonnaise and okonomiyaki sauce which tastes sort of like Worcestershire. But really, they can have anything you want since the name literally means "what you want".

Cubic Watermelons

Square Watermelons were created to save space and become so popular that they cost around 10000 YEN for one (that's around $100).

Canned Bread

If you thought sliced bread was convenient then get a load of canned bread, available in vending machines across Japan.

BM Coffee

If you thought Pocari Sweat was weird, then you've never tried BM coffee. We really don't want to know what's in this stuff.

Colon Snacks

Possibly to go with your BM coffee, Colon snacks are unfortunately named, but very tasty snacks.

Placenta 10000 Jelly Drink

Jelly drinks are strange enough to Americans, but Placenta 10000 isn't just unfortunately named... it contains actual pig placenta. Apparently it's healthy and tastes like peaches.

Natto

A favorite in Japan, but not very popular among foreigners, natto looks like a pile of snot. It's not much more appealing once you find out what it actually is... fermented soy beans.

Tamagogani - Dried Crabs

In Japan rather than crunching on potato chips, people crunch on dried hermit crabs called Tamagogani which roughly translates to "egg crab" or "baby crab".

Basil Seed Drink

Generally in the US we like drinks that are refreshing and sweet and don't look like they're swarming with tadpoles, but that's just us.

Wasp Crackers

Sure, the wasps in these crackers are already dead but how can you put something that stings you in your mouth and not be a little freaked out?

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Comments (16 Responses)

VicDecember 15th, 2009 at 12:57 pm

Okonomiyaki is delicious!!!! It’s more like a frittata with barbecue sauce(if it’s made correctly). I get this @ every japanese restaurant if it is on the menu!
LPDecember 15th, 2009 at 1:16 pm

IMGETTINHUNGRY!
whatthegeekDecember 15th, 2009 at 5:06 pm

Wasabi beer would be a GREAT prank on St Patrick’s day!
TsukuyomiDecember 15th, 2009 at 11:03 pm

Mmmm, pig placenta, my fave!
Jaka SembungDecember 20th, 2009 at 7:07 pm

How much is that cubic watermelon? It looks yummy!
JDJanuary 31st, 2010 at 4:18 pm

All of it sounds good! Square watermelons – who would have thought? Now I’m hungry.
slimeyappleFebruary 4th, 2010 at 12:22 am

Five years ago, I found a bottle of the Basil Tea drink in Asian Markets here (California, USA). I had to buy it, and put it in my Mother in Law’s refrigerator for fun.

I wonder if it is still in there…
CarlosFebruary 4th, 2010 at 11:21 pm

The writing on the can of basil seed juice is clearly Spanish.
RosFebruary 5th, 2010 at 9:41 pm

A few years ago I made a trip to Japan… Okonomiyaki is delicious!!! (as Vic says) The one I ate was sold at a street cart, perfect late night dinner…
I was willing to try everything (you don’t go to Japan often), so I tryed natto, WORST thing I ever tasted, you can’t wash the taste and smell of the scary goo. It´s like very angry smelly cheese gone bad…
KatherineFebruary 11th, 2010 at 9:26 pm

Everything is okay, except for the wasp crackers. And cubic watermelon isn’t really “bizarre”. All it is, is a watermelon in a cube-ish form.
CoryFebruary 28th, 2010 at 11:57 pm

I spent time in South Korea and saw Pocari Sweat all over the place, but was always afraid to try it. Turns out it’s pretty good…it replaces things you sweat out. Never felt like trying okonamiyaki, tho.

Japanese canned coffees are incredible, too.
Matthew NeerMarch 15th, 2010 at 12:54 am

Well, I must say after looking over your enticing menu I would be down to try just about everything once except for the Wasp Crackers. That just can’t be healthy…
jamMarch 19th, 2010 at 8:17 pm

wasps bite.
Dexter GreyMarch 23rd, 2010 at 3:53 am

I used to live there, so lemme correct you:

- Wasabi beer: novelty item. Unpopular.
- ditto the octopus ice
- Okonomiyaki is like an omelette. Get over it.
- canned bread is not popular.
- Square Melons are a novelty.
- ditto placenta
- Tamago crabs are not NEARLY as popular as potato chips
- Basil seed drinks and wasp crackers are not even Japanese. Reporting weird news in interesting, but outright lying is inexcusable.

- collon and natto are as reported. I love natto

Cheers
Yumi(JapaneseJune 23rd, 2010 at 10:24 am

お好み焼きと納豆はガチで美味いと思われ。
あと、お好み焼きは主食だ、デザートじゃねぇよ＾＾；
他の食いもんは知らんがな(´･ω･｀)
ゆとりに英語はムズい、間違ってたら誰か訂正ヨロ！
↑Japanese
↓English

I think OKONOMIYAKI & NATTO are very delicious.
OKONOMIYAKI is not dessert,It is staple food.：)

I don’t know about other foods.
English is very difficult for me.
If you can not understand easily , I’m sorry.
TOROAugust 29th, 2010 at 11:42 pm

WASP CRACKAS?!?!