Variety Friday: Machioka Candy Shops

The front of an Okashi no Machioka shop (click any picture to see a larger version).

On many occasions, I've mentioned that I have picked up one product or another at a "discount candy shop". That shop is Okashi no Machioka (おかしのまちおか). "Okashi" is Japanese for "candy" or "sweets", though these shops actually carry a wide variety of snacks including sembei, salted snacks, drinks, and diet-oriented snack foods.

Boxes of stock cluttering already pretty narrow aisles is the norm in many Tokyo stores. It makes navigating these places a chore.

Okashi no Machioka is a chain so their shops are located in various areas of Japan with many located in Tokyo but some in neighboring areas. If you can read Japanese, you can access their web site to find out where their shops are located. All of the stores have the same white on red lettering that you see in the picture at the top of this post and there are often pictures of their little blond-haired mascot, Machiko, pasted or hanging around the shop.

Machiko, the mascot, looks on at a "mild bitter" bag of KitKat minis that are exclusive to Machioka's stores. (image pinched from Okashi no Machioka's web site)

The shop carries a lot of items that aren't readily available in other outlets such as markets or convenience stores, but it also has special Machioka-only items. Recently, for instance, they have collaborated with Nestle Japan to make a KitKat mini which is an exclusive to their shops. This mini is a "mild bitter" flavor which I'll try to review at some point soon.

Products that are normally 100 yen are marked down to 84 yen at Machioka.

There are actually two of these shops located within walking distance of my apartment. Each carry similar, but not exactly the same inventory. Both have boxes of items sitting in the front in copious quantities and carry an interesting array of snacks for a cheaper than usual price. The best thing to hit them up for are items that are about to be or already discontinued, but such bargains are unpredictable.

If you are in Japan and interested in snacks, these shops are worth looking up and visiting if you're in the general area of one anyway. I'm not sure they're worth going out of your way for unless you check the web site and there is an announcement of a Machioka-only item of interest. Though the snacks are cheaper there and the selection different, the price cuts are not that deep. That being said, for someone who does what I do, these shops are a gold mine.