東京ばな奈「見ぃつけたっ」 TOKYO BANANA MI-TSUKETA
These famous little snacks are banana flavoured sponge cakes filled with banana cream in the shape of a miniature banana. As you take the first bite, you will surely fall in love as the exquisite balance between the soft texture of the sponge cake and scrumptious banana purée melt in your mouth.
At 1000 JPY, you could get a box of 8 of the orignal Tokyo Banana. Alternatively, they also come in boxes of 4, 8 or 12. However, to maintain the freshness, these sweets have a shelf life of 7 days so they are only sold in Japan.
WHY BANANA ? BANANA IS NOT SPECIALTY OF TOKYO.Tokyo Banana was introduced in 1991 and is loved by men and women, both young and old. Grape Stone, the manufacturer of Tokyo Banana explains they chose banana because “anyone has sweet memories of bananas. For elderly people, it was the fruit which they longed for when they were young because it was a rare fruit in Japan. For adults, it was the fruit that they took for school trips. For young people, it is the most familiar fruit”(Grape Stone).
Since introduced, Tokyo Banana has always been a popular Japanese souvenir and was also awarded first prize in the Tokyo souvenir ranking – these Japanese novelty snacks definitely won’t be a disappointment.
Filled with banana caramel custard and its cute giraffe print outlook, these are more common and can be bought in major department stores as well as Narita and Haneda Airport. チョコバナナ味 CHOCOLATE BANANA CREAM
Filled with Chocolate Banana Cream, this is only available at Solamachi Tokyo in the Tokyo Skytree. It was a limited edition to celebrate the completion of the Skytree. バナナシェイク味 BANANA SHAKE FLAVOUR
This limited edition is actually called Tokyo Banananohana – a play on the words ‘banana’ and ‘nanohana’(a kind of rapeseed flower), hence the flower prints. It’s made of milk flavoured banana custard cream wrapped in a vanilla scented sponge cake. キャラメル味 CARAMEL
For Tokyo Banana’s 20th anniversary, they came up with this special flavour that is filled with caramel filling in addition to its caramel flavoured sponge cake and light brown exterior. がぉー キャラメル味 CARAMEL CREAM This Tokyo Banana Roar special edition has caramel filling with cat prints on it. This popular flavour is now sold in Tokyo Station as well as other locations.
