Morinaga Chocoball Strawberry

The box is the point of entry.

Chocoball comes in a small carton with a beak that opens at the top, and on the front is Kyoro-chan, a round yellow bird Morinaga created in 1967 who has since become one of the most recognisable characters in Japanese confectionery — with his own animated series, a merchandise line, and a place in the childhood memory of essentially everyone raised here.

Inside the beak is where it gets interesting.

A small proportion of boxes carry a hidden angel mark printed under the flap: silver angels, which you collect five of, or the rare gold angel, which counts on its own.

Send them to Morinaga and you receive the Omocha no Kanzume — the Toy Can, a sealed tin of toys that has been sent out since 1967 and cannot be bought by any other means.

Generations of Japanese children have opened Chocoball beaks first and eaten second. The odds are long. That has never mattered.

The strawberry version is built for contrast in a single bite.

Each ball has a puffed rice centre — light, crisp, audibly so — wrapped in strawberry chocolate made with real strawberry powder, giving a tartness underneath the milky sweetness that keeps it from being merely sugary.

The pink comes from red yeast rice rather than synthetic dye.

At 25 g a box, this is a handful of pieces rather than a sitting-down sweet, sized to be dropped in a bag or handed to a child. Morinaga also builds in 32 mg of calcium, the sort of quiet addition Japanese confectionery has made for decades.

About this item
Item Name : Chocoball Strawberry
Brand : Morinaga Seika
Item Form : Semi-Chocolate
Allergens: Milk, wheat, soybean
Number of Items : 25g (Box of 1)