Marukawa Akabe Kurobe Tongue-Colouring Bubble Gum Cola

The point of this gum is what it does to your tongue.

Two sticks come in a pack — one turns your mouth red, the other black — and the colour transfers within seconds of chewing.

Marukawa files it under omoshiro shōhin, the company’s category for novelty products, and sells it on the premise that you will stick your tongue out at somebody afterwards.

Akabe and kurobe are both plays on beroberobā, the Japanese gesture of pulling a face with the tongue extended.

Colour-changing gum is a dagashi staple, and Marukawa has built a whole sub-range on it — green, blue and red versions, each with its own character.

In a Japanese sweet shop, this kind of thing competes on the reaction it produces rather than on taste, and the few yen it costs buys a playground performance rather than a confection.

The flavour is cola, which is standard for this format: sweet, mild, aimed at children, and lasting rather longer than the colour does.

Marukawa has made chewing gum in Nagoya since 1954 and supplies most of what sits on a Japanese dagashi shelf. Two sticks to a pack.

About this item
Item Name : Akabe Kurobe Gum
Brand : Marukawa
Item Form : Gum
Number of Items : 2 Counts (Pack of 1)