Snack Nation: Glamatic gum

Almost everything is sex-segregated in Japan. Guys don't go to sweets cafés, and women rarely end up at Yoshinoya. So it makes perfect sense that there there would eventually be a gum that suits the need of a specific gender.

Introducing Lotte's Glamatic chewing gum which is aimed directly at the ladies.

With packaging that sparkles in pink with fruits, roses, crystals and butterflies, its tagline tells us the gum will "make-up your breath with perfume." If we believe the PR hype, this is the gum you pop into your mouth while stepping out the door into the night, dressed to the nines.

We tried out the flavor "Moonlit Night Berry" -- the one with the sexy black packaging. The taste is a generic deep rasberry, but there is a notably feminine "perfume" that lingers in the aftertaste, kind of like doing a shot of your grandmother's eau de toilette.

We secretly suspect that this is the gum analog of hostess-fashion magazine "Koakuma Ageha," but let's face it: That's the general aesthetic direction of Japanese female culture. The 2010s will only see increased use of sparkles.

Glamatic also comes in flavor "Morning Dew Lychee." Each ¥100.