Corn Choco Madness

By george ross. Filed in food, japan |
Tags: barbara mikkelson, corn choco, debunking snopes, hot chocolate, japan, japanese snacks, junk food, snopes, underwear, vending machine

Americans love to tell exciting stories about Japan. Before I came here the first time, everyone wanted to warn me about the vending machines that sell used underwear*. (Oh hey my statcounter is going to have fun with that…) And yeah, according to snopes, I guess that story is real, but let me tell you, they must put those machines somewhere special because I have not seen them.

What I do see, once about every 50 ft, is vending machines that sell HOT DRINKS. In cans! It’s utter craziness, and I want to know why no one in the States told me about this miracle of modern technology.

See that can there? That’s hot chocolate (or as they say here, hotto chyokoruto)… from an ordinary vending machine! They also have many exotic flavors of coffee and tea. So it’s just like Starbucks, but without that annoying conversation about how venti means big and you should really know that by now.

Also, Corn-Choco is delicious. It’s basically Corn Pops coated in chocolate, and rarely have I tasted a more satisfying treat. Oh man, I just realized that’s an economy pack. Was it supposed to last me all month?

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*ETA: a warning if you wind up clicking that snopes link — it’s correct about the specifics (yes, dirty vending machines really do exist), but the rest of the article is completely uninformed, racist fearmongering. For some reason, Americans have a need to view the Japanese as creepy, bizarre, and incomprehensible; maybe it makes them seem less threatening? But the truth is, yeah, there are perverts in Japan, just like there are perverts in every other country in the world. Yes, sometimes women here are sexualized and objectified — just like everywhere else. Is this a defining element of the culture? Absolutely not. There are a ton of fascinating cultural differences between Japan and America, but ultimately, the Japanese are as friendly, helpful, and generally normal as any population I’ve encountered.

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