Snack Nation: Kanto Tochigi Lemon

Everyone concentrates on convenience stores as Japan's primary site of insane snackery, but you can't overlook the outlying prefectures' desperate plight to secure strange flavor combinations as their own unique culinary banner. Even nearby places like Tochigi Prefecture work hard to present visitors with a generous selection of obscure products they are required to buy as souvenirs or try on the spot.

Maybe it's the yellow box, but Kanto Tochigi Lemon -- a lemon-flavored milk drink -- immediately jumps out at you when browsing Tochigi stores. (Rural customers all over Japan seem to love super sweet milky drinks -- the yogurt-y Cool being a favorite of Okinawan children, for example.) Kanto Tochigi Lemon also has the kind of flavor best suited for the pre-teen set, but as a visitor it's hard to pass over.

Lemons are not a particulary important crop in cold, mountainous Tochigi, which is fine since Kanto Tochigi Lemon contains no actual lemon juice. And the manufacturers are no longer allowed to call it by its old name, 'lemon milk,' since it's not 100 percent milk. The ingredients are skim milk, raw milk, sugar and a hint of grape juice. The lemon effect is all in the smell and coloring.

How is the taste? To Americans, the effect on the palate should be familiar: Kanto Tochigi Lemon tastes exactly like the milk left in the cereal bowl after eating Kellogg's Froot Loops. There is a sweet and pleasant milky sensation with a tinge of faux citrus. You can almost hear Toucan Sam screaming out your name.

The best way to drink Kanto Tochigi Lemon is to take a trip up to Tochigi and, after loading up on the drink, enjoying side attractions such as Utsunomiya (for the gyoza), Nasu-Kogen (for a resort vacation) or Nikko (for the history). Tokyo unfortunately provides no adequate substitute.