Kawaguchi Hitomi Wa Blueberry Candy

Blueberry occupies a peculiar niche in Japan.

Since the 1990s it has been sold here less as a fruit than as something you take for your eyes — the connection traces back to a wartime anecdote about British pilots and bilberry jam, a story that turned out to be thin but which the Japanese supplement market embraced completely.

Walk into any pharmacy here and there is a shelf of blueberry and bilberry capsules; the association is so established that the name of this candy, hitomi wa — roughly, “as for your eyes” — needs no further explanation to a Japanese shopper.

Kawaguchi Seika builds the candy around that idea.

Blueberry, apple and bilberry extract go into the recipe, and each piece has a fruit paste injected into the centre, so there is a soft, tart core inside the hard shell rather than a uniform sweetness throughout.

Pectin gives the filling its body. A small amount of salt sharpens the fruit, the same trick the company uses in its lemon candy.

What comes through is darker and rounder than a typical berry drop — less sugary, with the slight astringency real blueberry carries.

Kawaguchi Seika is a Wakayama company with a long line of fruit candies, and this is the grown-up entry in it: a deep blue bag rather than a cartoon face, aimed at adults who spend their days looking at screens.

Individually wrapped in an 83 g bag, shelf-stable, with none of the melting problems chocolate brings.

Worth noting that the paste is injected mechanically and the manufacturer states that a piece occasionally comes through without a centre.

About this item
Item Name : Hitomi Wa Blueberry
Brand : Kawaguchi Seika
Item Form : Candy
Number of Items : 83g (Pack of 1)