No way... Celery Soda is way better, and you can get it here in the good ol' USA.

my friend would love this

is it possible to import this from Japan?

I'm holding out for Diet Sushi Coke.

there's also curry soda and wasabi soda...

I would totally try this. World of Coca Cola, here I come! (Cheaper than going to Japan or having it shipped here.)

The Green Tea Coke actually sounds pretty awesome... that's not sarcasm... I want one.

First Cucumber Pepsi, now this?

I'll pass. My diet of Mt. Dew already makes my bodily fluids glow a startling green.

@Vanilla5: If you go, you have to try the Beverly. Have someone with a camera standing by.

jlist.com/jbox.com may carry it.

I miss Japanesesnacks.com. Though now I live nestled between great Asian groceries and don't really need it.

@AppleAlex:

jlist.com/jbox.com may carry it.

I miss Japanesesnacks.com. Though now I live nestled between great Asian groceries and don't really need it.

eh, I've been burned once with green tea Pocky (not bad, just shockingly unexpected!).. do, however, bring on the melon soda for american consumption. It's the best soda ever. OM NOM.

We do have the Green Tea Coke up at J-List. [www.jbox.com]

@AppleAlex: I guarantee jbox.com will carry it. Worry not.

@halah: noooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! not the beverly. oh my god, you're evil!

@D0rk: here's one of my favorite webcartoonists trying cucumber pepsi:

@catastrophegirl - manic first time home buyer: argh, i did that wrong...

Sadly, these aren't the craziest drinks to come out of Japan.

[www.cracked.com]

Yogurt Pepsi, Curry Ramune, pig placenta... And that's only what's on that site.

@elysse: Melon Fanta is AMAZING.

@halah & catastrophegirl - manic first time home buyer: I'd heard it was nasty, went, and a COKE EMPLOYEE was like, "Oh, it's not that bad. It's just different." And right as I was drinking it, a lady who's job it was to simply mop up spit-out Beverly yelled, "Baby, NO!" But it was already a done deal.

Her: "Now WHY did you tell that girl that?" And she was smacking him on the arm as he was laughing hysterically...as were my friends.

All in good fun - but I will NEVER drink that again.

@D0rk:

I've been jealous of these yummy sounding drinks for some time, bring them over here!

I read the one on the left as shisno, and it immediately made me think of RvB, and then I wondered if shisno is a real word, and if so why would someone make a drink with carried the dirty/gross connotation of that word. I then looked at the picture again and realized I was wrong.

RvB goes something like this
1:What exactly is a shisno?
2:Do you have an animal where you come from that is considered the stinkiest animal?
1:Yes, a skunk
2:Does a skunk have excrement?
1:Yes
2:Does that excrement also have excrement?
1:NO
2:Well then there is no equivalent in your language.

@halah: Oh dear God...

@jjpember: with should be which

and "RvB goes something like this" should say "the RvB skit goes something like this"

I'm tired and need more caffeine to finish the day off

In English, Shiso is generally known as Perilla [en.wikipedia.org] or Beefsteak. It is actually found in a lot of Japanese foods over here、sometimes in combination with Ume aka Japanese Plum/Apricot -- delicious! Shiso is also used to brew a popular brand of Shochu called Tantakatan [en.wikipedia.org] .

I'd try the coke, I bought green tea kit kats from japan on ebay once and they were kind of awesome.

@elysse: Green tea pocky? A desecration! Desecration, I tell you! Pocky should only be strawberry - and not the kind with freeze dried strawberry bits stuck to it - yech.

Japan is home to all kinds of weird shit in vending machines.

They actually have vending machines that deposit panties with notes that girls attach to them.

@Vanilla5: haha, I'd never heard of that before. Now I gotta try it.

@dohtem: You've been warned. LOL

I am, however, a big fan of this which I tasted at World of Coke:

<"http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3331/3599925114_70c95c4382.jpg?v=0"

Crap:

THERE! Jeebus.

I think this information should be presented with the proper context about marketing in Japan and why these sort of strange flavors are released annually in Japan.

The Japanese market is different than that in the West. They demand novelty more frequently and get quite bored with the tried and true. Where many Americans are looking for something great that they can turn to time and time again, most Japanese consumers are looking for something they can buy once or twice for the experience and then move on. This is why there are things like the apple vingegar KitKat and Pepsi White.

[japanesesnackreviews.blogspot.com]
[japanesesnackreviews.blogspot.com]

The bottom line is that the Japanese consumers care less about finding something great that they can keep on buying and more about having an interesting experience with food or drink. These weird flavors are just as strange in the eyes of the Japanese as they are in the eyes of Westerners so it's important not to think that the Japanese are seeing such flavors as mundane. The only thing that they don't find odd is the fact that such bizarre flavors keep popping up to try and grab their attention. Weirdness is common in Japan, but it's still weird.

A few qualms:

1) Shiso is not really all that "minty" - too bitter for that, I think. In general mint flavored things don't do well here in Japan. Not that I think Shiso will do that well - most of my Japanese friends' reactions to this and Cucumber were "why?"

2) The vending machines are "stuffed with wacky and exotic snacks"? Jesus. Yeah, sometimes you'll find a machine with soup or something in it, but in general it's iced/hot coffee, tea, some sports drinks, and cola. OMG HOW WACKY. (although seriously, America, canned ice coffee vending machines are awesome and you should make them happen)

I think in general the Japanese market likes limited-edition things, especially seasonal items. There are a lot of foods/snacks/etc that you can only get in summer/winter/etc. Even though here in Osaka there seems to only be 3 seasons - Hot, Cold, and Wet, culturally they're all about that 4 seasons stuff, and the snacks in 7/11 reflect that. It's not because they're "wacky" or obsessed with fads (more than America, at least. I mean, seriously? Pop culture is disposable everywhere you go). And I think the limited-edition aspect makes things sell better - kind of like the Shamrock Shakes come March. Back home I never go to McD's usually, but when those shakes come around I go grab one. Doesn't Pepsi do weird novelty-flavor crap back home too with the Mt. Dew and mystery Doritos?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say "you baka gaijin do not understand mysterious orient vending machines! (^0^)~" or anything like that, but the western tendency to make a huge deal out of things no one cares about over here is just as tiring as when Japanese folks ask me if it's hard to sleep in my shoes with a gun under my pillow every night.

@kdui: not anywhere in wide distribution.

@AppleAlex: You might be able to get Akinaiblog.com to put it as a request, but as someone who tried pepsi cucumber, it's probably not even gonna be worth the novelty-dare factor.

@Vanilla5: Plum Hi-C? sounds good, but needs more booze.

@elysse: Oh god, I can't stand melon soda. My favorite is when Apple Fanta season comes around.

@Moosehawk: You do understand that all the panty-related crap is reserved to places like porn shops, right?

Way too many folks seem to think they're out in front of the Wal-Mart with the RC cola or something.

@ShariC: That's true, but it's also important to remember that, every once in a while, these things do catch on and they can last for quite a while. And that's why you can still buy soda that has Jello in it.

Diet Coke Plus Green Tea wasn't invented for the Japanese market and you don't have to go all the way to Japan for it. It's been on the shelves here in Denmark since January and I believe it's been out in the UK for far longer than that.

Its sister product Diet Coke Plus Vitamins has been under fire from consumer organization and politicians because of their "fortifying" it with vitamins (and as a result marketing the product as a "healthy" drink).

@Peter Payne: Thank you.

@Laura Northrup: I now love that website.

@AppleAlex: Yeah, I saw this on JList/JBox today before this article and planned on ordering some, but at 600g a bottle the shipping makes this completely impractical from a cost standpoint.

I was kinda expecting a photo with a big "NOT YOURS" plastered on it.

@Peter Payne: The shipping cost (not your fault) makes it financially impractical to order though.

@IT-Chick:

There are several green tea colas on the market in the United States. You can try Steaz or Cricket Cola. Both very, very tasty.

@DePaulBlueDemon: Steaz is excellent.

I'll stick with Pocari Sweat, thanks.