Guarana in Japan

Japan's localities all have their own special foods. When you go to a given region, you're supposed to get that specialty as a souvenir for everyone back home. So they can go, "Oh wow, [specialty food]! A uniquely [area name] treat! It's not very often you can get this- only when someone we knows travels to the farway prefecture of [area name]!

In reality, a lot of the specialties are manufactured, and limited to sale in that region precisely because its good for sales and the local economy. If a company comes out with a regional-ish snack, it can make more money by packaging it as a souvenir item at a premium price and keeping it semi-exclusive to the area. Every major airport has little stands making a killing selling the local treat to tourists looking for last-minute omiyage.

Japan's northernmost main island, Hokkaido, plays this game more than anywhere else I can think of. Chocolate covered strawberries, butter snacks, chocolate drinks, even their own potato chips ("WARNING:", the sign states wherever the chips are sold, "limit of 2 bags per person!") Realistically, though, the Hokkaido foods have a way of trickling down to the rest of the country if they're really good. You can find the chocolate covered strawberries at import stores, and the limit on how many bags of Hokkaido chips you can buy seems outstripped by the lack of limits on places you can buy them ("WARNING:", the sign by the chips states at the airport shop, your last chance to buy them, "limit of 5 bags per person!")

Interestingly though, there really is a common product that is only available in Hokkaido, not so much because its used for tourists, but simply because its popularity in Hokkaido truly outstrips any interest outside the islands. Elsewhere in Japan, its a rarity. But in Hokkaido, it's ubiquitous. Its called Guarana.
Guarana is a South American plant that produces beans with a powerful stimulant similar to that of it's far more famous cousin from the same region, the coffee plant. While coffee took over the world, Guarana-based sodas are hugely popular in Brazil, to the point where even Coca-Cola has began to market its own Guarana soda in that area. I loved it the first time I tried it. It gives a huge rush of energy that makes regular caffeine pale in comparison. People can't seem to make up their mind what makes it as powerful a stimulant as it is. By some accounts, the active ingredient, Guaranine, is a powerful analogue of regular caffeine derived from coffee, and that its effects are more powerful in humans. By others, the base caffeine chemical is the same, but there just happens to be a much higher concentration of it in the Guarana plant, and any additional effects felt are brought on by other chemicals found in the plant. But whatever it is, it's great! Mike, the guy who introduced me to it, used to use it before playing soccer. He would proceed to blaze across the field in a guarana-induced frenzy, only to crash several hours later. I, being the huge dork I am, used it before writing term papers instead. I'd pound away at the kepad non-stop, and papers that I had been putting off near indefinitely would get written in record time.

Mike had learned about Guarana during his travels in Brazil, and was trying to make some money selling it (among other Brazilian products) here in southern Japan. It seemed natural that it was ready to spread overseas. But southern Japan would have none of it. He wound up giving away bags of guarana extract powder because no-one would bite.

It's too bad he hadn't tried to sell that extract in Hokkaido, because it's everywhere up there. And its not just one company- I counted at least 4 competing brands. Here's a couple pictures. (the makers of the "bear" guarana extract above also market a soda).



Why does it do so well in Hokkaido but not elsewhere? Even the Japanese internet seems mystified. One website theorizes that back in the day, it took a while for Coca-cola to make it up to Japan's most barren, least colonized region. Guarana colas filled the void, and by the time coca-cola made it up there, Hokkaidoans had acquired a taste for it and it stuck.

Come to think of it, in Japan's southernmost area, Okinawa, Root Beer is widely popular. And just like Guarana, it has failed to gain popularity on the mainland. So both of Japan's outlier islands seem to have their own regional cola alternatives. My own observation is that Guarana cola tastes a lot like Dr.Pepper, which, like Root Beer, repulses most mainland Japanese. They all say they taste like medicine. I guess some soda flavors are acquired tastes. If they're established and you have them as a kid, you get used to it and acquire the taste. But if you're used to Coke and have it for the first time in adulthood, they just taste...weird.