#3 - Botan Rice Candy

To an ignorant Westerner (i.e. me), it can appear that Japan has more crazy per unit area than anywhere else in the world (excluding Kim Jong-un's personal space). I don't mean this in a negative way; it's just that Japan is a country whose culture and history are so rich with complexity (so much so that a lot of it had to be "borrowed" from China) that a lot of what gets exported to us in these United States of America seems, well, downright wacky! On the one hand, this is the country that brought us hugely successful franchises like Godzilla, Hello Kitty, Super Mario Brothers, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Pokemon, and countless others; book stores even have entire sections devoted to Manga! On the other hand, it is also the home of the Katsu Ika Odori-don (living squid dancing rice bowl), Arm Spirit (the arm wrestling game that will literally break your arm), and Sock Touch, the glue stick for the school girl whose pesky socks refuse to stay in place.

In short, one never knows what to expect from Japanese exports, and I think that's one of the reasons Americans love them so much: they crush the old adage about fearing what's not understood in ways domestic products and entertainment never could. There is a charm to them that cannot be duplicated (as much as we may try), despite all their failings.

It is thus fitting that I should review a treat from The Land of the Rising Sun (to be honest, the Japanese flag sometimes reminds me less of the sun and more of a bullet wound bleeding through a bandage), and so I give you Botan Rice Candy:

Cat? Check. Flower? Check. I think we're all set.

Frankly, I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this box (aside from a free children's sticker). I have had rice pudding (a winner), but never rice candy, whatever that meant. Would it be sugar-coated pieces of rice? Sugar-coated clumps of rice? It was a mystery my feeble imagination could not provide a solution for, and so it would have to wait until I got the package open.

Plenty of zeroes here, if you're into that sort of thing.

A look at the back revealed the nutrition facts, printed on the American-added wrapping. The box itself had no nutritional information whatsoever, which I decided meant one of three things:

1. The box was not meant for individual sale.
2. Japan is pretty lax about consumer health.
3. It is assumed every true Japanese man, woman, and child inherently knows the nutritional value (or lack thereof) of Botan Rice Candy (a likely possibility).

Aside from that, there's not much to see. The package contains 2g of sugar and 60 Calories of carbohydrates. If you didn't know (and even if you did), there are about 4 Calories per gram of carbohydrates, 4 Calories per gram of protein, and 9 Calories per gram of fat. Hurray for math!

I did also notice that the nutrition facts panel was hiding some box graphics. Was this intentional? I was eager to find out...

Upon removing the outer wrapper, my eyes were treated to this:

All babies are beautiful. Except maybe this one.

The Japanese are more or less experts at making things cute, so I don't know what happened here. I assume it must have a cultural significance that eludes me, but I still find the baby just a little bit terrifying (sometimes I DO fear what I don't understand, after all). His lack of proper proportion combines with his rattle/weapon/unidentified object and ghostly white skin to create a monstrosity greater than the sum of its parts. He makes me uneasy, and I fear he will remain with me far longer than the candy ever could.

This side of the box also reaffirms the promise of a sticker, along with two more examples. As compelling as the sample sticker images are, I do not feel it bodes well for the candy. Anyone who has had the misfortune of watching an informercial knows that the more a product tries to sell you on the extras, the more disappointed you are likely to be with the product itself (Buy two sets of cat pants and get a solar-powered calculator FREE!). At best, the "bonus" item tends to be a consolation prize, and, at worst, an apology. Still, there are always exceptions...

On the side of the box were the ingredients:

No mention of the sticker here.

It would appear that lemon and orange flavors are to be expected. That sounds good to me. About the only unusual ingredient is the sweet rice. That shouldn't be too shocking, given the name of the candy, but you never know. All in all, pretty standard fare.

So how does it all look when we take it out of the box?

60 Calories (not including the sticker) of rice witchcraft!

I had no idea what would come pouring out of the package, but I'd never have imagined THIS. There were six individually-wrapped candies, along with a good-sized colorful sticker. They looked like hard candies to me, but I've come to learn to not judge a sweet by its appearance. At any rate, there was no sign of rice to be seen.

The sticker was a pleasant surprise. Admittedly, I had hoped for the elephant or cat, but the ambiguous bird family was nice. They are undoubtedly wealthy birds (as signified by the diamonds), and both are being called upon by their children. However, the blue one (presumably the father) is busy sleeping, so the young one's cries fall upon deaf ears. It illustrates an important age-old lesson for children to learn (and here you thought it was just for fun):  "Daddy works hard to provide for his family, so he needs a nap; go bother Mommy."

Disclaimer: The previous sticker critique is not endorsed by JFC International, Inc.

Now that I had investigated the Botan Rice Candy as thoroughly as I could from the outside, it was time to open one up and give it a try.

Here is what it looks like without the wrapper:

Believe it or not, this is actually edible. Seriously.

Wait, didn't I say it would be a picture without the wrapper? Then what is that clear plastic still doing on there? Oh, you foolish, uncultured reader(s)! As it turns out, the rice in Botan Rice Candy is a rice paper covering. It looks and feels (and for all intents and purposes tastes) like plastic. But it melts in your mouth.

I have a confession to make here: on my first sampling of the candy, I tried to peel off all of the rice paper, thinking it was indeed plastic (it was quite a feat, I tell you). It wasn't until afterwards that I realized my mistake and felt like an ignoramus. I mean, why wouldn't I eat something that in every way resembled a second wrapper?

The chewy fruit-flavored (I did taste the lemon/orange flavoring) candy is actually halfway decent. It's not great, but it's not bad, either. But you know that feeling you get when you pop a mini peanut butter cup into your mouth, only to come to the realization that there was a mischievous second wrapper you failed to remove (we've all been there)? This candy gives you that experience every single time. Some people may enjoy that. I don't. I much preferred my first, incorrectly eaten sample.

In the end, though I'm glad I gave it a try, I have no choice but to give Botan Rice Candy a 1. I appreciate the thinking-outside-the-box approach to candy, but encouraging children to consume things that look like wrappers seems like a bad judgment call to me. I could see eating one as a prank (Look, he's eating plastic!) or to avoid offending someone (I can only imagine what would lead to such a situation), but otherwise am fine not going through the Botan Rice Candy experience again (on a semi-related note, I think "The Botan Rice Candy Experience" would be a pretty cool name for a band).

On the plus side, I would give the sticker a solid 3. It was my favorite thing in the box.

Call me crazy, but it is what it is.

Domo arigato and whatnot,
The Sweets Fiend

I figured you'd want another look at the glorious sticker rather than the candy. You're welcome.