Nestlé Japan is known for its wide range of unusual Kit Kats, which come in a variety of unusual flavors and special local releases, but sometimes, at the end of the year, it’s the original chocolate wafer that becomes one of their most sought-after products. The Japanese tradition of giving “otoshidama” money gifts at New Year is one that often involves envelopes featuring auspicious symbols or Chinese zodiac animals, and Nestlé has been combining the custom with the popular “Kit Kat Otoshidama” for the past seven years. The company recently announced their lineup for 2017, and the adorable packaging features a cute bird character to mark the upcoming Year of the Rooster.
The boxed packages come in three designs, including a rooster cosplaying as an eggplant, a rooster dressed up as Mt Fuji and a rooster on the back of a hawk.
Why the bizarre choice of rooster outfits? These images – Mt Fuji, hawk, and eggplant – are the top three auspicious symbols Japanese people hope to see in “hatsuyume“, their first dream of the New Year.
Hopefully, if you stare at the back of the packet for long enough, you can have all three lucky symbols appear in your dream on the first night of the New Year.
Kit Kats have become popular as lucky gifts during times of celebration and exam periods, due to the fact that the brand holds connotations of luck in its name, given that its sounds similar to the Japanese phrase “Kitto katsu“, which means “You’ll surely win”.
The three individually wrapped chocolates inside the New Year’s boxes add even more luck to the mix with the words “Daikichi” or “Excellent luck” written across them, along with a rooster dressed as a Shinto priest, holding an Ōnusa paper shaker, used during purification rituals.
The wrappers also include wishes for things like “surely a prosperous New Year” and a “New Year that’s surely special”.
The Kit Kats are even more exclusive due to the fact that they’re released in conjunction with Japan Post, meaning they can only be bought from local post offices for a limited time. The 2017 Kit Kat Otoshidama retail for 140 yen each and are available until Jan 6, so be sure to step inside a post office to pick up one of the boxes if you’re in Japan during that time.
Original article here: https://www.japantoday.com/category/food/view/japanese-new-years-kit-kats-available-exclusively-from-post-offices