For many people, taking a Kit Kat chocolate bar is just a simple form of enjoyment. But Japan takes it to another level — they’re totally obsessed with the stuff. There’s a secret reason why this is so.
Kit Kats are actually a must-have good luck charm for students taking entrance exams. One in three Japanese students gets a Kit Kat before taking a test and one in five bring one to the actual exam for good luck.
According to Cedric Lacroix, the managing director of chocolate & confectionery at Nestlé Japan, people have “up to five million Kit Kats a day.” Part of the reason they’re so popular has to do with the chocolate’s name in Japanese, Kitto katto.
To people in Japan, this name sounds like the Japanese phrase kitto katsu, which means “You surely will win!” The similarity in pronunciation turned the candy into a good luck charm.
Families began sending Kit Kats to their college-aged kids before exams, hoping the sweet treats would help them get better grades.
In 2009, according to AdAge, Nestlé even teamed up with Japan’s postal service to create “Kit Kat Mail,” which was a “postcard-like product sold only at the post office that could be mailed to students as an edible good-luck charm.”
The Japanese pronunciation, Kitto Katto sounds a lot like the Japanese phrase Kitto Katsu, which means “you will surely win” — that’s how people started gifting them as good luck charms.
There have been over 300 unique Kit Kat flavours sold in Japan, like matcha, wasabi, sweet potato, and even sake. They are all created by a pastry chef and some flavours are only sold in certain regions.
Even some tourists visit Japan to try the flavoured Kit Kats — and the nation eats up to five million Kit Kats a day.
Nestlé Japan MD, Lacroix, went as far as to tell CBS that “Kit Kat’s mission in Japan is really to encourage people.” Who wouldn’t want to eat a candy that wants to see them succeed like a delicious champion in your corner?
In 2015, the UK Telegraph reported that 300-plus Kit Kat varieties were created specifically for Japan including purple yam, matcha, and wasabi.
