Why Japan Has 400+ KitKat Flavors (Geography Explains It)

Japan has over 400 Kit Kat flavors. They're not random. They're a map of the country's climate zones, agriculture, and culture. In this video, I trace the entire Kit Kat map of Japan, top to bottom, from Hokkaido to Okinawa. Every flavor reveals something about Japanese geography: why wasabi only grows in Shizuoka's mountain streams, how the Japanese Alps create perfect apple-growing microclimates, and why a phonetic coincidence turned a candy bar into a good luck charm in Japan. Out of the 400+ Kit-Kat flavors, only a handful are "permanent", the rest are either regional like the focus of the video, seasonal (like Chestnut Flavor in Fall), or rotated for special events. Some of flavors may have been discontinued, but online shopping does make easier to find some of Kit-Kat flavors, if you can't travel to Japan. NOTE - Correction-Kyushu regional flavors do not include a NORMAL sweet potato KitKat. Both Kyushu and Okinawa are know for Beni Imo. The Akita prefecture may be referenced as inspiration for the normal sweet potato flavor, but nothing official. Chapter: 0:00 - Japan's Kit Kats Are Actually a Map 0:34 - What is Omiyage? 2:49 - Hokkaido: Snowy Flavors 5:02 - Japanese Alps Flavors 7:08 - Why Wasabi Only Grows in Shizuoka 9:33 - Tokyo: Urban KitKat Flavors 11:58 - Kyoto's Tea Flavors 14:54 - The Overlooked Middle Still Gets KitKats 17:24 - Kyushu & "Kitto Katsu" 20:30 - Okinawa's Tropical Flavor 22:45 - What the Map Really Means #kitkat #geography #japan #candy #japanesefood #japanese #educationalvideo #geographynow #japantravel #map ‪@MappedOutwithShawn‬ This video is not sponsored by Nestle or Kit-Kats in any way. Business: mappedoutbusiness@gmail.com TOOLS/CREDITS Music: FASSounds & Tunetanks from Pixabay Maps : Geolayer3, ESRI, David Rumsey Map Collection Media: Canva Pro, Pixelbay, ,Pexels, WikiCommons, Flickr Lots of image sources on this one! : Yubari Melon kobakou, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Greenhouses hokkaido 我路・幌内画像倉庫, CC BY-SA 3.0 Omiyage at store in Nagoya Station By ScribblingGeek - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Momiji manju omiyage By midorisyu, CC BY 2.0 $1000 dollar Manjyu with gold leaves Jesper Rautell Balle, CC BY-SA 3.0 日本語: かみさん、ここみてないよね。 一つ、秘密でお願いします。 Nori Norisa, CC BY 2.0 Japan Gift Shop Antti T. Nissinen, CC BY 2.0 wasabi Leiden University Library, CC BY 4.0 TOYKO BANANA STAND Michael Ocampo from United States, CC BY 2.0 DAIO Wasabi Farm t-mizo, FLICKR Ever Famous Japanese Kitkats Luke Standridge, via FLICKR Nagona Kitkats & Special Fuji Kitkats! Meredith P., via FLICKR Custard Pudding Kitkat & Juujitsu Yasai flavoured KitKat & Wasabi Flavor David Pursehouse, via FLICKR Yubari Melon Kitkat & Rum Raisin Flavor Amy Ross, via FLICKR Tokyo Banana Kitkat MisAdventure of Maja, via FLICKR Hokkaido Melon Kit Kats & Okinawan Sweet Potato Kitkat Nelo Hotsuma, via FLICKR Tokyo Train kitkat choo chin nian, via FLICKR Wasanbon 岡田製糖所, CC BY-SA 4.0 “Kitkat” by ortolina, Public Domain Mark Kitkat Train By Asacyan - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 Japan mailbox Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0 Kitkat notes with keys Nori Norisa, CC BY 2.0 名曲喫茶麦 Eugene Ormandy, CC BY-SA 4.0 KITKAT Chocolatery Arnie Papp & kschmidt073, via FLICKR “Candy Shopping” Amy Jane Mitchell, CC BY-ND 2.0 KitKat Uji Match & Zunda Kitkat Flavor Bodo, via FLICKR Crazy about KitKat tofuprod, via FLICKR Kitkat chocolatory Antonio Tajuelo from Tokio, Japón, CC BY 2.0 Snacks in Japanese Convenience Store” by Martin Lewison, CC BY-SA 2.0 Hidetoshi Nakata at Matsuda tribute match norio nakayama, CC BY-SA 2.0 Many photos taken form Open Food Facts CC images: Attribution to: kiliweb, macrofactor, foodless, tacite, bubblejunk #omiyage #japanesesouvenirs #KitKatJapan #japanesetradition #regionalfood #JapaneseGeography #FoodGeography #culturalgeography #hokkaido #kyoto #okinawa #shizuoka #tokyo #wasabi #nagano