Tokyo Street Snacks
Food | Travel | Tokyo | Japan
>> Related: Useful Japanese Phrases <<
Tokyo offers a wide range of culinary dishes with different tastes and textures. There are plenty of things to eat in Tokyo, but don’t spend all of your time at traditional dining settings or else you’ll miss out on the amazing street food Tokyo has to offer! You can purchase entire meals on the street, some popular ones being okonomiyaki or yakisoba, but we are diving more into the world of Tokyo street snacks. Quick snacks that are typically offered on a stick or can be easily eaten within a couple of bites. These probably won’t get you full, but that just gives you reason to try more!
This guide is by no means comprehensive of the vast array of street food Tokyo has to offer, it’s simply what we were able to indulge in during our trip. We are currently planning another Japan trip, and will be sure to update this guide with more street snacks after we get back, so be sure to bookmark it or pin it for later! Here is a list of Tokyo streets snacks that you should try on your visit to the food capital of the world.
>> Related: Tokyo Food Guide <<
Dorayaki | どら焼き
Dorayaki is a popular Japanese confection made of two castella pancakes with red bean filling inside. The one pictured is a variation of traditional dorayaki, with only one pancake and added imo-youkan, a sweet potato jelly.
FUNAWA
Address: 1-20-2 Asakusa, Taito 111-0032, Tokyo, Japan
Hours: Open Daily 10AM – 6PM
Age-manju | 揚げ饅頭
Age-manju is a fried bun filled with a sweet bean-paste or cream. This popular crunchy snack is the signature snack of Asakusa, and you can find them along Nakamise Dori for just 100 yen (~$1 USD) each! These were so good we went back multiple times in order to try different flavors and recommend you do the same!
ASAKUSA KOKONOE
Address: 2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito 111-0032, Tokyo, Japan
Hours: Open Daily 9:00AM – 7PM
>> Related: 8 Things to Do in Asakusa <<
Ningyo-yaki | 人形焼
Ningyo-yaki are bite sized cake snacks made of flour, eggs, and sugar cooked in an iron mold. The iron molds shape the snacks into various figures and shapes, ningyo being the Japanese word for doll. These snacks are popular food souvenirs and sometimes filled with red bean paste or custard.
KIMURAYA NINGYOYAKIHONPO
Address: 2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito 111-0032, Tokyo, Japan
Hours: Open Daily 9:00AM – 7:00PM
Tamagoyaki | 玉子焼き 🍳
Tamagoyaki, meaning grilled or fried egg, is a Japanese omelette made by rolling layers of egg on-top of each other. Tsukiji fish market is a popular spot to purchase tamagoyaki, you can find plenty of stalls selling this popular snack on a stick in the outer market area for only 100 yen (~$1 USD)!
Dango | 団子 🍡
Dango is a traditional Japanese confection made from mochiko, a close relative of mochi. These dumpling snacks are often served in threes on a stick and offered in different variations based on the flavor and what the dango is topped with.
Tengu-yaki | 天狗焼き 👺
Tengu-yaki is a snack local to Mount Takao. A long-nosed goblin, tengu, is closely associated with the mountain and is what the shape of the snack is based on. The snack consists of sweet black soybean paste inside a crispy waffle.
Crepe | クレープ
Crepes aren’t unique to Tokyo, but the Japanese have perfected the art of crepe making. In case you aren’t familiar with the concept of a crepe, it’s a thin layer of batter topped with sweet or savory goodness. Harajuku is an area known for its crepes and you can find plenty of crepe boutiques lined up right next to one another on Takeshita Street.
MARION CREPES
Address: 1-6-15 Jingumae, Shibuya 150-0001, Tokyo, Japan
Hours: Open Daily 10AM – 8PM
Poterico | ポテりこ
This one isn’t really a street snack, but we happened to eat it on the street and it’s AMAZING so we included it! Poterico is a popular packaged potato stick snack by Calbee, you can find it in almost every convenience store or market in Japan. In Harajuku they have a Calbee+ store where they make these snacks fresh, and it’s a million times better than the packaged stuff, which is already pretty good. We highly recommended trying these fresh out the fryer! Stop by if you’re in the Harajuku area, you won’t regret it.
CALBEE+
Address: 1-16-8 Jingumae, Shibuya 150-0001, Tokyo, Japan
Hours: Open Daily 10AM – 8PM
>> Related: 11 Things to Do in Harajuku <<
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This was a cool read. As someone that has never been to Tokyo, it is interesting to see all the different types of snacks/foods they have. Nothing like you see in America! Thanks for sharing!
I love learning about cuisines from different countries, glad you liked the post!
I’ll take the crepe please lol!
Haha, you got it!
Your post is so enlightening! I feel as if I was about to eat these unusual snacks with you! Your photos are lovely and the descriptions are necessary. Thanks for such an original topic.
Aw, thank you! Food is one of my favorites topics 🙂
Tamagoyaki and then Age-manju look good to me. Savory and then sweet! A must do when I visit Tokyo next.
They all look sooo good! I think I would love the potato sticks 😀
The potato sticks were so good and fun to eat!
Ok, why does everything in Japan look and taste good! Seriously, there is nothing I don’t like about Japanese food. I love the Dorayaki pancakes and the sound of the Age-maju. I have a real sweet tooth, and these look right up my street!
Right?? It’s so hard to find something to dislike about Japanese cuisine, I’m glad we’re on the same page!
The street food of Japan is just amazing! We loved the crepes! My hubby loved the savoury ones with chicken or tuna! Sooooo good! We are heading to Osaka at the start of next year so will check our the rest of these awesome snacks then!
I hear Osaka has amazing street food!
I haven’t been able to travel to Japan as yet but when I do I’ll certainly refer to this article so I can know what to eat! Thanks for the article 😊
I love some street food. All of these looked so delicious! I especially loved the look of the crepes though
The crepes are a work of art!
Sometimes I like street food. Sometimes it scares me enough to avoid it. I see a few things on your post that I would try though. I’d love the try the Japanese version of crepes and those potato sticks!
Both great choices! 🙂
I really should not have read this just before dinner! My mouth is watering! I want to try them all – the Japanese have such great flavor combinations that I reckon I could just eat my way through the country! Dango would be first on my list – I mean who doesn’t want dumplings on a stick?!
My mission is to eat my way through the country, haha!
Can I have one of each, please? Japan is basically at the top of our list at the moment, and this just made the wanderlust worse! Bean paste filled buns? Potato sticks? Crepes? YUM. I really wish I could find these locally. Cultural food always amazes me. 🙂 Thanks for sharing these mouth-watering street snacks with us!
I hope you’re able to check Japan off your list soon! You’re going to be very satisfied with the food there 🙂
Japanese street food looks wow and yummy. I was not knowing about so many tasty varieties that too some of them are vegetarian. I would prefer Age Manju and Doryaki as they are filled with beans.
Japanese cuisine has great vegetarian options!
The first thing I notes from this post is that these "street snacks" look a bit more refined than any other street food I’ve seen when traveling! Yummy! I think I’d be hooked on the freshly made Calbee!