Marukawa Grape Marble Bubble Gum

Grape is the flavour Japanese confectionery returns to more than any other, and Marukawa’s description of this one is a single word: jūshī, juicy.

That is the intent — not the deep, almost winey grape of a premium sweet but the bright, immediate burst that works in a gum, where the flavour has to arrive the moment you bite and does not get a second chance.

The reference point is Kyoho, the large dark table grape bred in Japan in the 1930s that the national palate is calibrated to.

It is what Japanese people mean when they say grape, and it tastes less like fresh fruit than like the grape of childhood — purple, sweet, unmistakable.

In a hard-shelled marble the size of a thumbnail, that flavour hits fast and the gum chews on long after.

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

Like the rest of the Marble Gum range, these carry an atari — a winning mark hidden in the packaging, redeemable at Japanese shops for another pack free.

Six marbles to a pack, bought with pocket change, and the checking is half the fun.

About this item
Item Name : Grape Marble Bubble Gum
Brand : Marukawa
Item Form : Gum
Number of Items : 6 Counts (Box of 1)