Pretty much every region in Japan has a specialty that’s beloved by locals, and oftentimes it’s exclusive to the area, attracting the interest of visitors from out of town. In the country’s third-largest prefecture of Fukushima, for example, you’ll find a lot of regional exclusives, but the one at the top of many visitors’ must-try lists is a bread-based treat called Cream Box, which is exclusive to Koriyama City. It’s so famous that reporter K Masami was looking forward to trying it on a scheduled trip to Koriyama recently, but when her travel plans fell through, her dreams of tasting the Cream Box were shattered.
However, the gods must’ve been looking down on her because 7-Eleven just added a new product to its nationwide lineup on 17 September — the Milk Cream Box. Masami immediately headed out to try the new product, and when she spotted it at her local 7-Eleven, there was no mistaking that this was the specialty item she’d been hoping to try, with “Fukushima-born Local Bread” on the in-store sign and “Fukushima Specialty” printed on the packaging. Priced at 138 yen, this was in line with the Cream Boxes sold in Koriyama, which are generally sold at bakeries for 100-150 yen.
The taste and shape of the sweet bread is said to vary depending on the bakery, so Masami was keen to find out what the 7-Eleven version would be like. ▼ It made a good first impression when she peeled off the protective film and saw that it didn’t remove a lot of the cre.
