450 flavours from wasabi to purple sweet potatoes: Know how Kit Kat became a part of Japanese culture

Kit Kat is a chocolate that continues to be sold successfully in many countries, including India. It is the favourite chocolate of many people. Japan is one of the countries that sells the most Kit Kats. However, what's interesting is that people in Japan buy Kit Kats not just for their taste. There is a story behind it.

This chocolate treat first hit the Japanese market in 1973. However, Japanese people rejected this wafer bar, which was not their kind of chocolate. Japanese people rarely ate Kit Kats because they were too sweet. But today, Kit Kats have become the best-selling confectionery in Japan. The reason for this is that people buy Kit Kats there not for eating but for something else. An Instagram video about this was released. That is what is now going viral on social media.

"How this foreign brand mastered the Japanese marketing. 1973, a British chocolate bar landed in Japan. Nobody cares, sales are terrible, the sweet taste doesn't match Japanese preferences. For 30 years, it's just another forgettable foreign snack. But then something magical happens. In the early 2000s, students in southern Japan started buying this chocolate before exams. Not to eat it but to carry it as a lucky charm. Why? Because Kit Kat sounds exactly like "Kitto katsu", a Japanese phrase meaning "you will surely win." The company noticed sales exploding every January during the exam season. Instead of ignoring this weird trend, they leaned into it completely. They paired up with Japan Post. Now parents can directly mail Kit Kats to their kids with messages of encouragement.

They didn't stop there. The introduced Hokkaido Kit Kats inspired by the Hokkaido region of Japan; Wasabi flavor, a Shizuoka-Kanto regional exclusive; Purple kitkat inspired by the beni-imo region's famous purple sweet potatoes; and many more. Today, there are about 450 types of Kit Kats in Japan that are not found anywhere else in the world," the video says.