For being the obvious cereal obsessor that I am, my tongue is pretty poorly travelled. As much as I’d love to keep up with each continent’s new and exciting cereals—you should see the kriller stuff those penguins are spooning out—it’s hard enough to follow American cereal discourse without drowning in a review backlog of brightly colored bags (that feel more like bricks).
Sure, I’ve dabbled here and there, but there are always other international oddities that slip under my radar. Luckily, I can now put a few more stamps in my cereal passport, thanks to Empty Bowl listener Nina B. in Okayama, Japan. Because of her kindness as a penPAL, I can now expand my region-locked palate.
And for being just three ambassadors to a whole country’s crunch culture, these Japanese cereals form an inspiring continuum of flavors. We have a never-before-tasted idea like tea cereal, a charming reinterpretation of a round bakery classic, and a bread cereal that’s aptly the polar opposite of America’s resident loaflets.
Without further ado, let’s let the Land of the Rising Sun illuminate this microcosmic balanced breakfast. Continue reading
