Peter's Japan blog

Pocky, the famous Japanese snack. It is a biscuit stick with a chocolate coat. It is a very popular snack in Japan, and especially among anime-fans outside of Japan as it is used often in anime series. Pocky is not pronounced with an english 'o', more like 'goal' but short.

But it is also famous for its many different and sometimes odd tastes. When I was in Japan I tasted chocolate (normal), strawberry, coconut, vanilla and pistache. I liked the coconut very much, but didn't like the pistache.
Among other tastes are: honey, kiwifruit mango, bitter (Men's Pocky), banana, coffee, caramel, marble royal milk tea, melon, milk, cream cheese, berry, sweet potato, coconut, almond crush, pineapple, pumpkin, pizza, hazelnut, kurogama (black sesame), kinako (soy bean flour), and green tea. Also some regional flavours: grape (Nagano), yubari melon (Hokkaido), giant mikan (lemony, sold in Kyūshū), powdered tea azuki bean (Kyoto), Kobe wine (Kobe).

It was first introduced in 1966 by Ezaki Glico Company. Here in Belgium, they are also available but under a different name: Mikado, like the stick game.

It has been used in many anime series like: Onegai Teacher (the main character is addicted to them), Ichigo Mashimaro, Card Captor Sakura, Lucky Star, Eureka Seven, Elfen Lied, ...