100 Japanese Sweets and Snacks: Names, Wagashi and Dagashi

Japanese sweets are not one single category. Wagashi are traditional confections often made with rice, beans, sugar, and seasonal ingredients, while dagashi refers to inexpensive, playful snacks and candy. Modern shops also carry chocolate, cookies, gummies, and ice cream in an enormous range of flavors.

This guide brings those worlds together. Start with familiar Japanese snack names, then use the vocabulary lists when you want to recognize sweets on a package, menu, or shop sign. Product flavors and packaging change, so treat the brand list as a starting point rather than a fixed catalog.

Contents 5

Wagashi, dagashi, and modern Japanese snacks

Wagashi (和菓子) includes traditional sweets such as daifuku, dango, dorayaki, and yokan. Many pair naturally with tea, and their ingredients often make the texture as memorable as the flavor: soft mochi, smooth bean paste, crisp wafers, or set agar.

Dagashi (駄菓子) is broader and more casual. The word is used for affordable snack foods and candy, including crunchy corn snacks, ramune candy, gummies, and small chocolate treats. A dagashi shop can carry sweet, salty, chewy, and fizzy options side by side.

Japanese candy and snack names

These 26 names are useful when looking through a Japanese snack aisle. Some are chocolate, some are cookies or savory snacks, and several have seasonal editions.

1. Wasabeef — a wasabi-flavored potato snack.
2. Creme Collon — crisp rolled biscuits with cream filling.
3. Every Burger — miniature hamburger-shaped chocolate cookies.
4. Poifull — fruit-flavored jelly beans.
5. Pucca — fish-shaped biscuits with chocolate filling.
6. Green Gum — a long-running chewing-gum brand.
7. Crunky — chocolate with crisped rice.
8. Jagariko — crunchy potato sticks.
9. Chocobi — star-shaped chocolate snack associated with Crayon Shin-chan.
10. Hi-Chew — fruit-flavored chewy candy.
11. Koala’s March — koala-shaped cookies with a sweet filling.
12. Baby Star Ramen — seasoned crunchy noodle snack.
13. Bisco — a small sandwich biscuit.
14. Caramel Corn — light, sweet corn puffs.
15. Dars — bite-size chocolate squares.
16. Kinoko no Yama — mushroom-shaped biscuit-and-chocolate snacks.
17. Papico — frozen dessert in a squeezable tube.
18. Caplico — airy chocolate in a cone-shaped package.
19. Tirol Choco — small filled chocolate squares.
20. Gari Gari Kun — a popular frozen ice-lolly brand.
21. Umaibo — puffed corn stick sold in many flavors.
22. Ghana — a chocolate brand.
23. Choco Baby — small chocolate drops.
24. Apollo — strawberry-and-chocolate cone-shaped candy.
25. Chocoball — coated chocolate balls with varied centers.
26. Pocky — biscuit sticks coated with chocolate or other flavors.

21 Japanese words for sweets and candy

The Japanese word changes with the kind of sweet. Okashi is a useful general word for snacks and confectionery; amai describes a sweet taste. Learn the more specific terms below to make menus and labels easier to read.

27. 甘い (amai) — sweet, as a taste.
28. 甘味 (kanmi) — sweetness or sweet foods.
29. お菓子 (okashi) — snacks or confectionery.
30. 和菓子 (wagashi) — traditional Japanese confectionery.
31. 洋菓子 (yōgashi) — Western-style sweets in Japan.
32. 駄菓子 (dagashi) — inexpensive snack foods and candy.
33. 飴 (ame) — hard candy.
34. 飴玉 (amedama) — a small round candy.
35. 金平糖 (konpeitō) — small star-shaped sugar candy.
36. 綿飴 (wata ame) — cotton candy.
37. グミ (gumi) — gummy candy.
38. チョコレート (chokorēto) — chocolate.
39. ガム (gamu) — chewing gum.
40. キャラメル (kyarameru) — caramel.
41. キャンディ (kyandi) — candy, from English.
42. 砂糖菓子 (satōgashi) — sugar confection.
43. 餡 (an) — sweet bean paste.
44. 餡子 (anko) — sweet red-bean paste.
45. 餅 (mochi) — pounded rice cake used in many sweets.
46. 大福 (daifuku) — soft mochi filled with a sweet center.
47. 団子 (dango) — small rice-flour dumplings, often served on a skewer.

53 dessert names in Japanese

Many modern dessert names are written in katakana because they came into Japanese through other languages. The Japanese word may refer to the same dessert or to a version adapted to local tastes.

48. タルト (taruto) — tart.
49. スイートポテト (suīto poteto) — sweet-potato pastry.
50. バームクーヘン (bāmukūhen) — baumkuchen.
51. ババロア (babaroa) — bavarois.
52. ショートケーキ (shōtokēki) — Japanese-style sponge shortcake.
53. マフィン (mafin) — muffin.
54. カップケーキ (kappukēki) — cupcake.
55. フルーツケーキ (furūtsu kēki) — fruit cake.
56. パウンドケーキ (paundo kēki) — pound cake.
57. チーズケーキ (chīzukēki) — cheesecake.
58. マーブルケーキ (māburu kēki) — marble cake.
59. シュークリーム (shūkurīmu) — cream puff.
60. ボンボンショコラ (bonbon shokora) — chocolate bonbon.
61. トリュフ (toryufu) — chocolate truffle.
62. 抹茶チョコレート (matcha chokorēto) — matcha chocolate.
63. ビターチョコレート (bitā chokorēto) — dark chocolate.
64. ミルクチョコレート (miruku chokorēto) — milk chocolate.
65. ホワイトチョコレート (howaito chokorēto) — white chocolate.
66. アーモンドチョコレート (āmondo chokorēto) — almond chocolate.
67. ブルーベリーチョコレート (burūberī chokorēto) — blueberry chocolate.
68. チュロス (churosu) — churro.
69. ミルクレープ (miru kurēpu) — mille crêpe.
70. ドラジェ (doraje) — dragee.
71. エクレア (ekurea) — éclair.
72. ガナッシュ (ganasshu) — ganache.
73. ガトーショコラ (gatō shokora) — chocolate cake.
74. ゼリー (zerī) — jelly dessert.
75. マロングラッセ (maron gurasē) — marron glacé.
76. オランジェット (oranjetto) — chocolate-covered candied orange peel.
77. チョコレートマカロン (chokorēto makaron) — chocolate macaron.
78. マドレーヌ (madorēnu) — madeleine.
79. ミルフィーユ (mirufīyu) — mille-feuille.
80. ムース (mūsu) — mousse.
81. ガトーオペラ (gatō opera) — opera cake.
82. パンナコッタ (panna kotta) — panna cotta.
83. パンケーキ (pankēki) — pancake.
84. チョコレートパフェ (chokorēto pafe) — chocolate parfait.
85. プラリネ (purarine) — praline.
86. プリン (purin) — custard pudding.
87. カスタードプリン (kasutādo purin) — custard pudding.
88. ロールケーキ (rōru kēki) — roll cake.
89. ドーナツ (dōnatsu) — doughnut.
90. ザッハトルテ (zahhatorute) — Sacher torte.
91. アイスクリーム (aisu kurīmu) — ice cream.
92. スフレ (sufure) — soufflé.
93. クレープ (kurēpu) — crêpe.
94. タルトタタン (taruto tatan) — tarte Tatin.
95. パンプキンパイ (panpukin pai) — pumpkin pie.
96. キャラメルタルト (kyarameru taruto) — caramel tart.
97. チョコレートタルト (chokorēto taruto) — chocolate tart.
98. アップルパイ (appuru pai) — apple pie.
99. ワッフル (waffuru) — waffle.
100. マカロン (makaron) — macaron.

How to choose Japanese sweets

Choose wagashi when you want a traditional sweet with mochi, bean paste, agar, or a seasonal shape. Choose dagashi when you want to sample many small, casual snacks. If you already know the flavor you want, the vocabulary above makes labels easier: matcha for green tea, ichigo for strawberry, chokorēto for chocolate, and purin for custard pudding.

For more food words, see our guide to Japanese food names. If traditional sweets are your focus, continue with wagashi desserts from Japan. Chocolate lovers can also explore Japanese Kit Kat flavors.