Tokyo Banana

The ideal bring-home gift for your family and friends

Tokyo Banana (東京ばな奈) are a series of banana flavored sweets that are often considered to be the #1 souvenir of choice to be given out as gifts by friends who have recently visited Japan. Tokyo Banana basically are banana flavored custard cakes meticulously wrapped and packaged in Japanese standards. Even though there are more unusual choices of quirky stuff that Japan has to offer as gifts, Tokyo Banana are the most widely commercialized and easiest to obtain souvenir (even from last minute shopping at the Narita Airport).

Granted, there are a lot of snack choices to choose from, given that Narita airport carries other snacks as well. But why Tokyo Banana? If you ask me, the word “Tokyo” does give a more personal touch to a gift which I will give out to friends. It brings forth a “here’s a very delicious snack from Tokyo, hope you’ll like it” impression.

As mentioned, Tokyo Banana is a series of banana flavored snacks but there are actually quite a few variations. In this post I will mainly focus on the original Tokyo Banana. For folks who are interested in checking out the different varieties available now, here a link to the official website of Tokyo Banana.

Having chanced upon Tokyo Banana a few years back from my own Japan trip, I have been constantly requesting them from any friends who will be visiting Japan. Fortunately, I managed to get a box from Sho’s Japan vacation.

Pictures and taste reviews below.

Sho happened to be at Japan for vacation, of course I would not give up a chance on getting my hands on some.

This box is the much said Tokyo Banana. A box of 8 cost 1000yen.

The main reason why Tokyo Banana can't be commonly found outside of Japan. It can only last for a max of one week.

Contents inside the box.

Each cake is individually packed.

Tokyo Banana in its full glory. Complete with a plastic holder.

The banana flavored cream is hidden inside the cake.

Every individual wrapper comes with a moisture absorber.

It’s a pretty gift but Tokyo Banana doesn’t fail in the taste test either, well at least not for me. I would not have bought these snacks time and time again just for the novelty of its packaging. The banana flavoring isn’t heavy on the palette, a light snack to munch on without it overpowering you. If there’s anything similar in Singapore to be compared to Tokyo Banana, I would say its the chiffon cake.

Here's a picture of a Tokyo Banana shop Sho took on his trip. You can't miss it on your Japan trip.