Nippon Ya

Only place where you can get legit chocolate mochi that is not ice cream filled! I don’t know why but it is extremely difficult to find this type of chocolate-​filled mochi in LA. I assumed that Little Tokyo shops would have it but nope. Only thing close to it was Fugetsu-do’s Nutella/​chocolate mochi but subject to expire in a few days. But the Harajuku mochi boxes last longer and perfect for gifts or just to eat them all for yourself: o if I go back to SF, I’ll definitely stop by this shop and stock up on these for sure!

Can’t find Harajuku mochi anywhere else — wish I stocked up on the green tea and tried the strawberry before flying back home but my luggage restricted me with the limited space.

I always come here and spend around 50 bucks grabbing mochi boxes and tea when I visit SF. They have the best goodies that you can’t buy in an asian supermarket back in the East coast. Too bad we don’t have this in DC… although NYC probably has something similar.

This is my first stop whenever I head to Japantown. When you first set foot in it is visually pleasing, countless pretty packages of mochi and sweets are stacked upon each other.
I like to buy blind here. I just pick a random package and hope for the best. It always goes well, even if it doesn’t taste the best it still looks beautiful. My favorite was the black sesame mochi, and the cocoa dusted chocolate strawberry mochi. Not sure if it’s still there, though.

Cute little snacks and sweets store that specializes in goods from Japan. It’s located on the west wing of the mall in Japantown and has an open store front so it’s not easily missed.
We came in hopes of finding hakata torimon but left with a box of red bean mochi infused with sake and a box of sweet white bean cakes.
— Red bean mochi: It’s a box of 12, I believe. They were good but the texture wasn’t exact to the soft, chewy texture of mochi.
— Sweet bean cakes: I was hoping these would be similar to torimon and it was, but the texture of the filling was off. Torimon has a creamy filling while the filling for these are a bit crumbly. These came in a box of 16.
The store is divided into sections so it’s easy to narrow down what you want. Although this store imports goods from Japan, my boyfriend didn’t see one thing that he’s had or seen from Japan. It’s not a question of authenticity but it was interesting to hear that from him.
The person working wasn’t helpful one bit and didn’t bother getting up from his seat to answer any questions or give any recommendations. There’s a box of their most sold item as a sample but it was empty when we went.
Attaching pictures of what we bought to gain a better sense of what was purchased.

The short: Ultimate place for Japanese sweets
Ever craving some Japanese snacks, candies, and desserts? This place will probably be your number one stop for all those sweet tooths out there. I have never seen so many different mochi, kit kat flavors, tea, and a lot of other unknowns that I’m sure will taste really good! And all of the stuff is beautifully packaged, so the treats make great gifts for people ;)

They sell traditional mochi, chocolate mochi, unique flavored kit kats, and other snacks from various parts of Japan. Plus they have a star wars corner and tea corner.
Currently there is bogo free with certain boxes so i got 3 boxes for only $ 20! I haven’t tried any yet since I’m giving them as gifts to my bfs family this weekend.
They accept credit cards.

This place is definitely my spot for fancy Japanese boxed dessert needs!
If you buy enough of their boxed desserts, they will give you a discount on your parking ticket at the Japantown parking garage. Be sure to ask!!!
They have free samples of their popular mochis near their cash register!
They also have a display in the front of the store displaying all their popular mochi products. Super helpful for those who don’t know what’s good and for those, like myself who wants to try something new!

Nippon Ya has all your Japanese snack and candy goodies straight from Japan!
This place brings back memories of traveling to Japan by the placement of the fake plastic snacks on display, the various flavors of kit kats available, and well, the Japanese snacks! On occasion, they even have free samples which are definitely a treat.

SO. MUCH. MOCHI. I’m talking peanut, black sesame, (real fragrant) red bean, mango, green tea, chesnut, and so much more… sometimes rolled in the usual mochi powder, sometimes in cocoa, sometimes with sesame seeds, sometimes with matcha… the combinations are seriously endless!
And then there’s the GORGEOUS packaging. Looking at the colorfulness and care in individual wrapping of a lot of the boxes here, you would never guess they were ~$ 10 or even under sometimes (have you seen the bunny shaped white bean manju? SUCH A STEAL FOR A CUTE GIFT!!).
If mochi isn’t your thing, fear not, there’s plenty of other sweets! Unheard of flavors of Kit-​kat (roasted tea? HELLZ YEA!), French wafer/​roll cookies, jelly based confections, star candy… Not big on the sugar? There’s also hella fresh noodles, super cute knick knacks… I think I even saw some plushies on the side…
I’m such a hyper squirrel everything I go here. everything gets me super excited! LOL If you are in Japantown, make sure you swing by and check this place out!

Nippon ya… Nippon ya… You’ve made a convert out of me. Not a person who likes Mochi but your Harajuku Mochi chocolates got my vote. Who would think luscious chocolate with coffee would be a great Mochi flavored delicacy? It was a rare treat to the mouth as I savored you. I didn’t know if I needed to bite the soft Mochi that encased this treat. It was a luxury in the palate. And for 9 bucks a box it was reasonable after the first taste.
Same for the strawberry chocolate. Think how they freeze dried each strawberry and then dipped into creamy white chocolate. It was science in your mouth and an adventure to your taste buds. The strawberry is like crunchy and dense with the tart of the fruit still present but the chocolate neutralizes that’s tartness and so it was a gastronomic experience.
Sadly these arE just two of the items I sampled and they have more in this quaint store. I will be back for sure and will try other stuff.

I love this place. Love the sesame mochi and the strawberry chocolates! They make nice gifts.

I love this store! They have a lot of Mochi and others snacks here like cookies and tea. The boxes aren’t really that expensive like $ 10-​$ 20 per box for most of them, but the presentation is done really nicely on these boxes. The designs are very pretty. I’ll probably come back for more if I need some last minute gift ideas (which is what happened).

You really can’t help but walk in to Nippon Ya when you see it at the Japan Center. They have some very classy candy and snacks here. They say in Japan that they’re really serious about the packaging because they want all their products to be beautiful. You’re going to be so tempted to buy something and even though things are pricey, you’re not going to care. I bought myself a box of Harajuku Mochi Chocolates (
) because I just liked the box! If you’re looking for a great gift, I highly recommend coming here.

They have some really good candy that they sell here as well as mochi boxes. If you haven’t tried mochi, they have free samples here too!
I love how it’s brightly lit and organized. It’s very colorful in here it kind of reminded me of Tasty Sugar except the colors weren’t visually overwhelming.
Definitely would love to come back here! I recommend this place.

Honestly i don’t love mochi all that much but I love coming here just to see what they have and also because they have an excellent selection of green tea and matcha related things.

Very great place for delicious and beautifully decorated gifts. Most of the items aren’t too expensive and the store has a wide, diverse selection of goods from hard candies to green tea to little cute figurines. I really recommend this place if you want to try small delicacies from Japan!

Small Japanese gift shop that houses many well-​chosen Japanese treats, teas and gifts. At Nippon-​Ya you will find luxury boxed Japanese chocolates, pretty packaged treats and gourmet teas.
Indulge yourself –or that special person in your life – with Harajuku Mochi Chocolates, Cherry Blossom cookies, Green Tea Kit Kats or Chick-​shaped steam buns filled with white bean. The Chick Steam Buns are so cute! I saw a lady filling her cart with these… they really do make a lovely gift.
I walked out with a bag of matcha green tea and a box of the Harijuku Mochi Chocolates The matcha green tea is very good –I really look forward to having a cup or two during the day. The Harijuku Mochi Chocolates were a nice treat. They are the perfect after-​dinner treat accompanied with a little red wine. I’ll have to buy these again when I come back.
Make gift shopping easy or pick up something special for yourself at Nippon-​Ya. Very fun shop! Gonna make some tea now.

This place is absolutely adorable. They sell wide ranges of mochi and chocolate that are made in Japan. The cashier was very friendly and helpful. He offered samples of some of their mochi and chocolates. I really enjoyed it and bout some as gifts to bring back home from my trip.

Stopped in again and got some more manju and yup it didn’t disappoint. Will keep coming back to this place. Can’t go wrong with anything you buy.

Finally! Hehe, got myself a box of Harajuku Mochi Chocolat (the sakura one)! It has a delicate, sweet sakura flavored mochi with a sweet white chocolate filling. So soft, so sweet, and a bit powdery with starch, on the outside! It was sweeter than I remembered it, but still better than just any mochi I’d find at 99 Ranch market in a box… oh, no. Never again.
I have also had their sakura drops, which were also very delicately flavored with sakura. It mostly tasted like sugar, but I enjoyed them, and the tins are cute. To open the tin easier, though, you’d probably need to pry the lid with some keys or something. I remember them being difficult to open. I was going to buy another tin of hard candies, but didn’t today :(
There are 16 pieces of mochi, by the way. They are a bit bigger than the size of a quarter, and the box was 9 $ each :) I just ate 4 as I was writing this review. I need to get someone else to hide this box, because I keep digging it back out when I hide them on my own. I need to stop
The person working at the store was very kind. He went to the back of the store to grab the mochi I’d asked him to reserve for me (as I was afraid that flavor would be gone again) He took a look at the boxes and after a moment, went to replace 2 of them for some of the fresher boxes of mochi they had. So kind and thoughtful! Thank you! Of the three times I came here, they were always nice. I never fail to stop by this store when I visit Japan Town.

Amazing candy! My wife always gets the mango drops when we are in Japan town. Some of the stuff is a bit pricy but that seems to be because you can’t find a lot of these sweets anywhere else.
Worth checking out, especially for birthday gifts and indulgences!

This review is more about Karen, the person who helped me today. Finally, someone who was willing to help me wade through the wide selection of sweets. Karen had lots of information to share about the products.
I am not too familiar with Japanese sweets. Every year I go to this store to buy treats to send in celebration of the new year. The recipients are from Japan living in the United States. The staff typically points me to the shelves with the top rated items. Today, it was different.
With Karen’s help, I actually went over budget. But, I am confident there will be some pretty happy people come January 1^st.
I have also sent a commendation for Karen to corporate.

If you focus on the pastel colored boxes, you almost (almost!) feel like you’re in Tokyo. With mochi boxes and tea canisters lining the shelves, helpful store employees, and even yatsuhashi (super-​crunchy cinnamon cookies which I can’t find anywhere else), this store is my Tokyo-​away-​from-​Tokyo.
After filling-​up on some ramen or sushi in the area, stop by Nippon Ya for a box (or three) of mochi and head home to re-​watch episodes of Densha Otoko.
If that isn’t a Japanophile’s dream, I don’t know what is!

I love San Diego, but in terms of culture and good Japanese food or good manju/​mochi, San Diego is definitely lacking. Found Nippon Ya and was in manju/​mochi HEAVEN!!!
Ended up buying various types of packages and was able to take it back on the place with me as a carry on (unopened. I left it sealed to be on the safe side).

My son n I love the chocolate and strawberry harajuku mochi’s from here. They’re soft and chewy little bites of heaven! One box has 16 mochi’s each one is a little bit bigger than a quarter.
$ 9 a box no tax…

*Sigh*
I am a sucker for Japanese sweets, especially when the packaging is super cute and pretty; just love how the Japanese are very elaborate and delicate with their packaging — skills!
Tucked in a back corner of SF Japantown mall, this store offers delicious small bites of mochi goodness. My all time favorite is their sakura harajuku mochi with white chocolate filling… mmm yummy!

You know how sometimes you’re starving, like absolutely ravenous, so just about anything and everything sounds absolutely amazing? Yeah, when that happens, avoid this place.
Maybe I’m just missing something since most other Unilocalers seem to love it. Sure, the service was super sweet and friendly, but that did not make up for the mediocre mochi. I usually walk right on by this place — have done so for years and years — but this time, hunger made me take a pause and whip out about $ 15 for two green tea varieties. D and I ended up trying one of each, and we were not impressed at all. The mochi were not soft or chewy as fresh mochi is. I actually ended up tossing the boxes after they just sat on our kitchen counter, undesirable and untouched, for weeks.
I think part of the issue is that I’m used to fresh mochi. And boxed Nippon Ya compared to the real thing? Why even bother?

So what prompted me to visit Japantown was this picture of mochi shaped like bunnies from Nippon Ya. I love everything rabbit related and these mochis looked just too good to be true and well unfortunately they were.
Nippon Ya carries a variety of Japanese treats from candy to mochi to various other gift items packaged in exquisite cute boxes. We picked up three flavors of the bunny mochi (green tea, coffee, and cherry). The display for the mochi looked absolutely adorable… white mochis with ears and eyes. Although when I opened a box I realized that it looked nothing like the display! You could hardly tell the mochi was a bunny :(. The markings were faded and it definitely wasn’t cute at all. Hoping it would taste better than it looked I bought these back home and tasted all three flavors before gifting a couple to my friends. Sadly they were way too sweet and wasn’t as good as I had imagined either. I haven’t completely given up on Nippon Ya yet so I’ll probably visit again during my next SF trip but I’ll pass on the packaged bunny mochis and purchase freshly made ones instead.