Frozen azuki snacks last miraculously long in blackout stricken Hokkaido

08:17 cherishe 0 Comments

Azuki Ice adds to legendary status in Japan once again by defiantly providing delicious treats in times of need.

Days after the large earthquake in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, workers are still racing to patch up its devastated infrastructure such as transportation routes and Internet access. For the first two days following the main 6.7 quake, over a million homes were completely without power.

Although much of the electricity has now been restored, two days was enough time to take a considerable toll on much-needed perishable food supplies. The first to go were frozen foods such as ice cream and ice candies, except for one.

According to Kazuo Takahata (@kazuo_takahata), who posted a now-deleted photo taken at a convenience store in Hokkaido, the shop’s cooler case was entirely empty except for a stack of remaining Azuki Uce snacks. At first it seems like they met the same fate as the Peyang Extra Spicy MAX END instant noodles, in which no one would dare eat it even during such trying times. But in fact this situation is quite the opposite. The reason the Azuki Ice bars were left is that they’re the only ones that survived, and were still edible at least 36 hours after the power to the freezers were cut.

For those unfamiliar, Azuki Ice is like an ice cream bar but is made up largely of sweet red beans called azuki in Japan. They are also the subject of numerous urban legends which Takahata lists in his tweet:

  • They have broken tens of thousands of people’s teeth
  • Their hardness is ranked somewhere between that of sapphire and diamond
  • They’re hard enough to drive a nail into a piece of wood

So, lasting a day and a half in the great Hokkaido blackout is but another notch in Azuki Ice’s already legendary resume. Moreover, its one of the only two facts we can actually confirm to be true. The other is the nail one which we accomplished here a few years ago.

However, there is an asterisk with this particular achievement. The Azuki Ice seen here is a brand made by Lotte which is different from the more widely known and eaten Azuki Bar made by Imuraya. The two foods are very similar but it’d be like crediting Pepsi for a can of Tab that stayed bubbly days after opening it.

▼ Azuki Bar from Imuraya

The brand awareness discrepancy showed in the comments as well, with many assuming the snack in question was Imuraya’s Azuki Bar instead of Lotte’s Azuki Ice.

“So it’s better to take a frozen bean paste bar when evacuating. Good to know!”
“Wait, it isn’t an Imuraya bar?”
“Someday there will be a case of an Azuki Bar being used as a weapon.”
“I’ve never had a Lotte one, but I love Azuki Bars.”
“It is truly the highest-grade material mankind had developed.”
“I could go for an Azuki Bar right now.”
“These things have more legends than Excalibur.”

Indeed, whether Azuki Bar or an Azuki Ice, these uniquely Japanese snacks are special in many ways. Although they resemble ice cream, no milk is used which not only adds to their fortitude but comes as a relief to those concerned with lactose or animal rights. This new found longevity during difficult times is just one more reason to love them, so even if you can’t bring yourself to buy one, just grab one any year on 1 July when they’re being given away for free all over the country.

Source: Twitter/@kazuo_takahata, My Game News Flash
Photos ©SoraNews24



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