In this article, we are going to look at some Japanese sweets and different ways to pronounce sweet and sweet in the Japanese language. Let's also get to know some popular Japanese snacks and sweets dagashi, and a complete list of sweets in Japanese.
Table of Contents
Famous Japanese sweets and their flavors
Everyone knows that Japan is full of sweets and snacks of countless different flavors and varieties. Several flavors and limited editions are created almost daily. Some sweets have been hugely successful, and have survived among these thousands of tasty inventions. In this article we will see the main sweets known in Japan.
Most of the Japanese snacks and sweets below fall into the category dagashi [駄菓子] which literally means cheap sweets that can be found in small candy shops or convenience stores.
- Wasabeef - わさビーフ - Potato flavored with wasabi and meat;
- Creme Collon - A cream-filled cookie, with that strange name..;
- Every Burger - Chocolate cookies that look like small hamburgers;
- Poifull - Fruit-flavored jelly beans;
- Pucca - Cookies with a chocolate filling in the shape of a fish;
- Green Gum - The name says it all, green gum;
- Crunky Popjoy - Chocolate filled with crunchy rice;
- Sweetie Gum - A beloved candy..;
- Chelsea - Classic hard toffees;
- Kani Pan - Crab-shaped bread;
- Dars - chocolate squares;
- Kinoko no Yama - Literally "mushroom mountain," a delicious chocolate-covered biscuit;
- Jagariko are potato sticks flavored with cheese and vegetables;
- Chokobi - Star-shaped chocolate from the anime Shin-chan;
- Hi Chew - Chewy candy with fruit flavor;
- Koalas March - Koala Cookies with various fillings;
- Pinky - Small spicy bullets;
- Baby Star Ramen Snacks shaped like noodles;
- Bisuko - Classic Japanese cookie;
- Tohato Caramel Corn - Caramelized corn snack;
- Meiji Chocolate - A famous chocolate;
- Papico - A popsicle in the shape of a bottle with a milkshake flavor;
- Kitkat - Kit kat is popular in Japan. (See about the flavors of kit kat by clicking here.)
- Caplico - Soft chocolate-covered cone;
- Tiroru - They are classic chocolate squares, with dozens of flavors and seasonal varieties;
- Dairy - Milk and caramel flavored candies;
- Gari Gari Kun - A famous ice cream brand with various different flavors;
- Umaibo - A different type of snack in various flavors;
- Ghana Chocolate - Popular brand of slightly dark chocolate;
- Choco Baby - Small candy made of chocolate;
- Apollo - Chocolate that mixes strawberry and milk with chocolate in the shape of a space capsule;
- Choco Ball - Chocolate with a crispy filling, either strawberry or peanut;
- Pocky - They are chocolate-covered sticks. Very popular in Japan;
Did you like our short list of dagashi japanese sweets?
Different ways to say Candy in Japan
In the Japanese language, there are many words that have or refer to the same meaning in Portuguese and vice versa. Let's examine the different ways to say "sweet" in Japanese and also the names of some categories and sweets in general.
| Kanji | Kana | Romaji | Meaning / Notes |
| 甘い | あまい | Sweet | It means Sweet, and it can refer to the sweet taste. |
|
甜
| あま | Ama | It also means sweet, but it is no longer used, only in Chinese. |
| キャンディ | Kyandi | An Americanized version of candy written in katakana. | |
| 飴 | あめ | Rain | Specifically it means candy, or candy of the kind. |
| 飴玉 | あめだま | Amedama | Sweets in general, specifically candies or round sweets |
| お菓子 | おかし | Sweets | Sweets made in confectionery or confectionery / Or confectionery and confectionery |
| 乾菓子 | ひがし | East | Dried sweets made in confectioneries |
| 有平糖 | アルヘイとう、ありへいとう | Aruheitō | Bonbons or candies made from sugar or caramel |
| 砂糖菓子 | さとうがし | Satō kashi | Confectionery products and sweets or sugar (or confectionery) |
| 金平糖 | こんぺいとう | Kompeitō | It is a type of candy or Japanese confection of Portuguese origin. |
| 糖菓 | とうか | Touka | Sweets, treats / Confectionery |
| 綿飴 | わたあめ | Wata love | Cotton Candy |
| 駄菓子 | だはし | Dagashi | cheap candy |
| チョコレート | Chocolat | Chocolate | |
| 飴細工 | あめざいく | Amezaiku | handmade candy |
| グミ | Gumi | Sesame | |
| 餅 | もち | Mochi | sweet made from rice |
| 糖蜜 | とうみつ | Tōmitsu | molasses |
| 和菓子 | わがし | Wagashi | Japanese traditional confectionery/traditional sweets |
| ガム | Gamu | Chewing gum | |
| ロリポップ | Roripoppu | Lollipop (origin of English lollipop) |
List of sweets in Japanese
Now let's share a list of sweets in Japanese. They are very popular sweets abroad, in the West, in the United States and in Japan. We will also leave the name of the candy in English to help identify them.
Let's learn the meaning, writing form, and translation of various sweets, cakes, chocolates, ice creams, and others. The list does not include many traditional Japanese sweets; it mainly consists of Western sweets, most of the time written in katakana.
| Portuguese | English | Japanese | Romaji |
| sour (tablets) | tart | タルト | taruto |
| sweet potato | sweet potato | スイートポテト | sweet potato |
| baumkuchen | baumkuchen | バームクーヘン | bāmukūhen |
| bavaroa | bavaroa | ババロア | babaroa |
| cookie | shortcake | ショートケーキ | shōtokēki |
| cake pop | muffin | マフィン | muffin |
| cake pop | cupcake | カップケーキ | cupcake |
| fruit cake | fruit cake | フルーツケーキ | fruitcake |
| pound cake | bolo de libra | パウンドケーキ | pound cake |
| cheese cake | cheesecake | チーズケーキ | cheesecake |
| Marble cake | bolo marmorizado | マーブルケーキ | māburukēki |
| cream bomb | cream puff | シュークリーム | shūkurīmu |
| chocolate candy | chocolate bonbon | ボンボンショコラ | bonbonshokora |
| brigadeiro | truffle | トリュフ | toryufu |
| chocolate shell | chocolate shell | シェルチョコレート | sheruchokorēto |
| chocolate green tea | chocolate de chá verde | 抹茶チョコレート | matcha chocolate |
| whip | whip | ホイップ | hoippu |
| bitter chocolate | bitter chocolate | ビターチョコレート | bitāchokorēto |
| milk chocolate | chocolate ao leite | ミルクチョコレート | mirukuchokorēto |
| White Chocolate | chocolate branco | ホワイトチョコレート | howaitochokorēto |
| almond chocolate | chocolate de amêndoas | アーモンドチョコレート | chocolate almond |
| blueberry chocolate | blueberry chocolate | ブルーベリーチョコレート | blueberry chocolate |
| sweet chocolate | chocolate doce | スイートチョコレート | sweet chocolate |
| dark chocolate | chocolate amargo | ダークチョコレート | dark chocolate |
| strawberry chocolate | Morango chocolate | ストロベリーチョコレート | strawberry chocolate |
| pistachio chocolate | chocolate pistachio | ピスタチオチョコレート | pistachio chocolate |
| dark chocolate | chocolate preto | ブラックチョコレート | black chocolate |
| churro | churro | チュロス | churros |
| confetti | confetti | コンフェッティ | confetti |
| chocolate cream | chocolate cream | クリームチョコレート | chocolate cream |
| creamy | cremoso | クリーミー | kurīmī |
| crepe mill | thousand crape | ミルクレープ | mirukurēpu |
| drageia | dragee | ドラジェ | doraje |
| eclair | eclair | エクレア | ekurea |
| ganache | ganache | ガナッシュ | ganasshu |
| gateau au chocolate | gateau au chocolate | ガトーショコラ | gatōshokora |
| jelly | jelly | ゼリー | zero |
| brown grace | brown grace | マロングラッセ | marongurasse |
| orange | orangette | オランジェット | oranjetto |
| chocolate macaron | macaron chocolate | チョコレートマカロン | chocolate macaroon |
| madeleine | madeleine | マドレーヌ | madorēnu |
| melty | melty | メルティー | merutī |
| millefeuille | millefeuille | ミルフィーユ | mirufīyu |
| mousse | mousse | ムース | mūsu |
| chocolate mousse | chocolate mousse | チョコレートムース | chocolate mousse |
| ópera gateau | gateau opera | ガトーオペラ | gatōopera |
| panna cotta | panna cotta | パンナコッタ | panna cotta |
| Panna Cotta Chocolate | panna cotta chocolate | チョコレートパンナコッタ | chocolate bread |
| pancake | pancake | パンケーキ | pancake |
| chocolate parfait | chocolate parfait | チョコレートパフェ | chocolate parfait |
| praline | praline | プラリネ | purarine |
| pudding | pudding | プリン | pudding |
| chocolate pudding | chocolate pudding | チョコレートプリン | chocolate pudding |
| cream pudding | custard pudding | カスタードプリン | kasutādopurin |
| burnt | brulee | ブリュレ | buryure |
| real | royal | ロイヤル | royal |
| rich | rich | リッチ | ritchi |
| ricotta | ricotta | リコッタ | ricotta |
| cake roll | rocambole | ロールケーキ | rōrukēki |
| doughnuts | donuts | ドーナッツ | doughnuts |
| sachertorte | sachertorte | ザッハトルテ | zahhatorute |
| ice cream | sorvete | アイスクリーム | ice cream |
| chocolate ice cream | chocolate ice cream | チョコレートアイスクリーム | chocolate ice cream |
| suflé | souffle | スフレ | sufure |
| tapioca | crepe | クレープ | crew |
| tartathan | tartathan | タルトタタン | tarutotatan |
| 30TP1 Pumpkin Soup | pumpkin pie | パンプキンパイ | panpukinpai |
| caramel pie | caramel tart | キャラメルタルト | kyaramerutaruto |
| chocolate pie | chocolate tart | チョコレートタルト | chocolate tart |
| raspberry pie | raspberry pie | ラズベリーパイ | razuberīpai |
| fruits pie | fruit tart | フルーツタルト | fruit salad |
| Apple pie | apple pie | アップルパイ | appurupai |
| lemon meringue pie | torta de limão com merengue | レモンメレンゲパイ | remonmerengepai |
| waffle | waffle | ワッフル | waffle |
Kanji used in Japanese sweets
There are thousands of sweets in Japanese, so it's not possible to mention them all. Most of them use certain kanji to form the word, ideograms that sometimes separately have no use or mean something different. Let's see a list of them:
| Kanji | Chinese reading "ON" | Japanese reading "KUN" | Meanings |
|
菓
| カ | Sweets, cakes and fruits, caramels | |
|
餦
| チョウ | あめ、 もち | sweets, confectionery |
| 餹 | トウ | あめ | sugar, sweetened, candies, candied sweets |
|
飴
| イ、 シ | あめ、 やしな.う | Sweets, rice pudding, jams, candies |
|
甜
| テン | うま.い、 あま.い | Sweet |
| 甘 | カン | sweet, to depend on, to pamper, delicious | Sweet, sugary, persuade, pamper, be happy |
It is worth remembering that sometimes kanji and sweet words like [甘] are used to represent feelings, actions, personalities as well as the term “sweet in English”.
Where to buy Japanese Sweets?
There are many Asian product stores where you can buy common Japanese sweets like pocky and pepero. I personally recommend those random candy boxes that are sent monthly to subscribers, shipping is free to Brazil and the cost-benefit is greater.
I recommend the Japan Candy Box that can be accessed by clicking here!
Finally, see a showcase of Japanese sweets that you can buy in Brazil (on the websites you will find more Japanese sweets):
Well, this was a short article, with main objective to tell you the different shapes and categories of Japanese sweets to increase your vocabulary.
I hope you enjoyed this list of Japanese sweets! If you want to see more foods in Japanese, or traditional sweets from Japan like wagashi, just browse through the culinary categories on the Suki Desu site.
