Random Picture 47

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You can tell that "it's that time of year" again in Japan when the KitKat releases and displays start revving up. "That time" means that kids are taking or have recently taken entrance exams for various educational institutions and Nestle Japan is pushing to get parents to buy celebratory or encouraging candy bars. I took a picture of this display at NewDays convenience store and, oddly, it doesn't feature anything new. There are "gokaku" mugs with KitKats and instant coffee, "adult sweetness" KitKats, plain big bars and regular KitKats, mikan and strawberry Big Little KitKats, and a bag of white and milk chocolate minis.

The display does include something I personally hadn't seen before and that is a "present". If you buy two KitKats, you can get a "clear file" showing a young woman holding up a KitKat amongst a frame of cherry blossoms. This one says, "I'm going to campus", as if she passed her exam and is going to attend the college of her parents' dreams, but I can't tell if it was written in an empty speech bubble by the staff of NewDays or if that's what all of these say. At any rate, I didn't get one because I don't need more useless office supplies, but those in Japan who are KitKat collectors may want to march on over to NewDays while they last.