Snack Nation: LAS Cola

Who says prices in Japan are sky high? Even in the era of soaring endaka, there are deals to be found in this land. And one of them is the incongruously named LAS Cola, the brainchild of a Kansai beverage concern called Kobe Kyoryuchi. An acronym of the words "Los Angeles sunshine" -- I'm not sure whether to joke about this sounding like some kind of drug, or comment on the fact that most Americans associate the city with smog instead of sunbeams -- LAS Cola is a beverage with a singular, incredibly redeeming feature. A retail price of ¥35.

¥35! That's almost a third the cost of a can of the leading cola competitor (or ANY mainstream canned beverage in Japan, which normally retails for anywhere between ¥110 and ¥150 at city vending machines). Think about that for a moment. If I were a cynic, the fact that this tiny company can produce a cola for a third the price of a Coke would almost make me think we were paying a massive premium for our cans of carbonated water and high-fructose corn syrup.

But never mind that. I can almost hear you straining at your keyboards: what about the TASTE, man? How's the bouquet? Does it taste like cola? Or like, say, a can of carbonated water and high-fructose corn syrup? I can happily report that LAS Cola perfectly replicates the performance of budget colas across the globe, bringing back fond memories of supermarket-branded soft drinks quaffed at grade-school birthday parties throughout my misbegotten youth.

The only catch: LAS Cola isn't available through vending machines, as far as I can tell. I happened to stumble across it at a "gyomu suupaa," a so-called wholesale supermarket way out down the Tohachi road in Mitaka. Chances are, you're more likely to run into this particular beverage out in the 'burbs.