Meiji Chelsea, the Japanese candy with the '70s vibe

I discovered these little gems in a tiny japanese convenience-style shop about an hour from where I live. I am absolutely addicted to the 'Yogurt Scotch' flavor. I adore the little flower print inside of the box, it's so cute!

As for things that I grew up with that I still love, it has to be candy canes. Every year just after christmas I go and buy a ton of boxes for reall cheap and keep a stock of them in my house at all times :)

Chelsea was the first Japanese candy I was ever given, it's still one of my favourites. Thanks for the info, I didn't realise it was as old as I am!
I've always liked milky sweets, particularly butterscotch and toffee, on the other hand I liked incredibly sour things like lemon sherberts and the mouth puckering powder known as "pica pica" in Spain (which is probably why I love kamu-kamu lemon). Best of all was Peta-Zeta (called Spacedust in England), sour, acidic granules that crackled and exploded in your mouth. I'm sure I would have loved ume flavoured things as a child, if I could design my own candy I'd make ume peta-zeta/space dust, as sour as possible.

You got me nostalgic about 'acid strawberry' (fresa acida) gum from Cheiw. I wasn't really a gum devotee nor did I like strawberry flavoured sweets, but I was crazy about this stuff.
I'm surprised to see how cool the packaging looks in retrospect:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1430/1481769207_abbf9eea09_o.jpg
&
http://www.teacuerdas.com/images/nostalgia-cosas-cheiw1.jpg

Still fond of Marshmallows. =)

I love milky ways. You might have tried them when you were here in Britain, but in case you don't know -- it's a chocolate bar that has a fluffy nougat center. I've loved them since I was a kid. XD

I don't tend to do hard candy, so much. They hurt my teeth. x_x

Those packages are so delightfully funky!

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a sugar-freak. Here in my mid-twenties, I've noticed that my sugar tolerance is not what it was (can only mainline about three pixie stix now before I feel nauseous, instead of most of a package), but I still have many favorites.

One, particularly, is the chocolate disdained by foodies everywhere: Hershey's milk chocolate (just had a s'mores party and really indulged in the gooey, chocolatey, marshmallowy goodness). I love the sweetness, the milky presence, how delightfully melty it gets. I like quality chocolate, too--nothing quite like truffles from Fran's Chocolates--but for sheer comfort and guilty pleasure, a plain Hershey's bar and a big glass of milk is just the thing.

And gummi candy of all sorts--red Swedish fish, SourBrite gummi worms, gummi bears, and so on, as well as caramels (like SugarDaddy lollipops and CowTails) and anything one can really sink one's teeth into. (I can hear my dentist having a coronary from here...)

And since I found out about it, mochi has become another favorite because of its gummi-like texture.

Most Americans my age (69) grew up with the taste of Hershey's milk chocolate along with a variety of sweet or chewy penny candies. Now we're told that plain dark chocolate has things in it that are good for us, but they're too diluted in our familiar milk chocolate. However, to me the strong dark Swiss and European chocolate seems bitter in comparison. "Chocoholics" here can either go for the familiar -- or get used to the alternative different taste. My favorite these days is M&M Peanuts, which also contain milk chocolate. Or, for special occasions, See's Candies (nuts and chews variety rather than the creams). My husband's favorite is butterscotch hard candies. We don't eat candy very often, however. (Now you've made me hungry for some!)

I'm going to go looking for this the next time I got to my local (a.k.a. an hour away) Oriental Food Market. I'm excited to try the different flavors!

Now, I'm not quite 16 yet, but I already have foods I miss that I wish I could have again. For example: my grandma's oatmeal raisin cookies. Not to say that my grandma's dead or anything, but she just doesn't make them anymore. When I was little, every time I would go to her house, there would be some cookies cooling on paper grocery bags. I stopped coming so often so she stopped making them so often. Every Christmas I beg her "Grandma! Make oatmeal raisin cookies!"

And there are already things that I used to love but now can't eat. Blue Raspberry and Rootbeer Dum Dum Suckers are two of those things. My father used to work for a hardware store and every time I came in the store, he'd give me either a rootbeer DumDum sucker or, if I was lucky enough, a "blue one!".
Now, when I think about it, I'll say "Oh, one of those flavors sounds great!" but when I go to taste it, I decide against it after one lick.

I too can't eat marshmallow's straight out of the bag anymore. Or Marshmallow Creme ._.

I remember that my mom liked to carry a box in her purse seemingly at all times when I was a kid. Fond memories :)

I used to love these when I lived in Hong Kong, I'd totally forgotten about them until now!

Hi,

First of all, I really enjoy reading both of your blogs. Thank you for providing such thoughtful and practical writing on food.

I grew up in Taiwan, and the candy that always brings me back to childhood is the Morinaga milk caramel. Even though they are readily available in Vancouver now, I still keep up the tradition of buying a few boxes and bringing them back with me each time I go back to Taiwan.

I remember the Chelsea candies, too. Back them, I considered them fancy little treats! Thanks for bringing back those memories. I will be sure to buy a box the next time I do my grocery shopping!

I used to love Hershey's and Cadbury's milk chocolate. Then it became too insipid, with an odd aftertaste, so as a teen I switched to Special Dark. Now that's too sweet and milky and I only eat the darkest chocolate I can find.

I used to love Brach's candies, all kinds. Our supermarket may have been one of the last ones in the U.S. to have an honor box on the Brach's display: you put in a nickel and got to choose (IIRC) three pieces to eat. Now I can taste the artificial flavoring in most of them and the others are just too sweet.

I used to love those little gumdrops coated in crystallized sugar, too, but now they make me ill.

Way back in the '60's, my Dad used to take me to a little Japanese market, now long gone, in Pasadena. Mom and Dad used to throw dinner parties, and sukiyaki and tempura were still considered so elegant and exotic. I was so enthralled by everything at the tiny market, but my favorite thing was the Botan rice candy. I used to think that the little Inu Hariko on the box was a cat. On my first trip to Japan I loaded up on all sorts of wacky Japanese candies. Morinaga Milky being another favorite. Now-a-days, the local Mitsuwa, Nijiya, and Marukai markets are all within an easy drive. But I'll never forget the tiny little Japanese market.

Mmm! I always wanted to try these, and finally did the other day! The packaging is definitely an instant draw, and the flavor is rich without being too sweet, like you mentioned! I was really kind of disappointed at the yogurt flavor, though...It kind of tastes more like a coconut-lime flavor that was popular in some coffeehouse chillers a few summers ago. Not that it's bad, but not what I expected from that's supposed to taste like yogurt! The Japanese are such brilliant packaging designers!!! ^_^ *sigh*

This is great--I'm so glad to find out more background about Chelsea and its marketing history.

My father was in the military and we were living on a base in Tokyo not long after the candy came out. I was about seven, out playing with some other kids, when I was approached by a Japanese man and an Anglo man wearing suits. They told me to take them to my mother, and asked her if she would let me be in a commercial for Chelsea, and pulled out a pack of the candy (the one with the red design) to show her what they were selling. She said it was all right, so I did.

I wasn't in the commercial above--the one I did was with several other American kids, and it was set in the present day, I think.

I didn't really love Chelsea at that age, although I did love the box's hip design. The candy was too American; I could get butterscotch at the PX or from my grandmother. I preferred the chalky, hyper-sweet Japanese candy in the cool packaging. But I like it now too and am sentimental about it.

my dad went to japan for a business thing and he brought back some really great candies. my favorites were the chelsea candies (YUMMMM! im trying to conserve whats left of the box!) and plum cake things they were squishy and not too sweet! LOVED IT!!!!! yummy but now i have to find somewhere to buy more Chelsea candies! :)

I first got these at an Asian grocery store in Vancouver. I got hooked. They were pretty much a clone of Callard and Bowser Butterscotch, right down to the foil wrap. And since Callard and Bowser got bought/messed over by Wrigley, they quit making their Butterscoth. Compared to crummy Brachs and Werthers, Chelsea is wonderful. So nowadays instead of trying to find Callard and Bowser, I hunt for Chelsea.

Apparently, my parents love these candies so much that they named me after them and sent out Chelsea candies for my one-month old celebration.

And I only got to taste them (except maybe when I was a baby, when they might have made Chelsea eat Chelsea?) fourteen years later, and I must say I love them. Too bad it's rather hard to find them in where I come from.

You can get Chelsea at www.tsunami.hk
Also new flavors available and lots of other japanese candy etc.

You can buy Meiji Chelsea, and any other Japanese products from White Rabbit Express:
http://www.whiterabbitexpress.com

I was so happy the first time I discovered these since they had my name on them!! Finally I felt connected to Japanese culture in at least one way! I've always had a sweet tooth, so there aren't very many sweets I don't enjoy... Reading your site this late has made me crave so many things that I don't have the ingredients for....And not only that but it's the middle of the night so I already brushed my teeth. Still want to thank you for posting all that you have though; you're a lifesaver! ^^

The whole reason I bought this candy from a Japanese market I visited was because we share the same name hahaha!
They're actually great little candies to keep in my bag when I'm craving something sweet.