The Surprising Use of Kit Kat Bars in Japan

Do you have any rituals that you do before a big exam or meeting?  Do you wear your lucky shirt? Carry a lucky penny? Shadow-box in the mirror?  

If you were a student in Japan, you and your friends might carry a popular good luck charm to exams–and it isn’t what you might think.  While preparing for an exam, students make sure they have a pencil, calculator, eraser, and…. Kit Kat?  

Kit Kats have been a favorite candy for years, and hearing their jingle (Break me off a piece of that KIT. KAT. BAR.) will cause it to get stuck in your head for hours.  But why is the Kit Kat bar regarded as a good luck charm in Japan? When you translate Kit Kat in Japanese it sounds like ‘Kitto Katsu’ which means ‘to certainly win’. Japanese students regard the candy as a way of saying ‘I will certainly pass this test’.  

I love the positivity and alternative meaning attached to one of my favorite candies.  The next time I eat an entire fun-sized bag of them I can tell myself that it was to ensure success in future ventures.  However, when I indulge in Kit Kats in the States I have access to a pitiful amount of flavors in comparison to my Japanese friends.  Peach, Strawberry, Red Bean, and Sakura are a few examples of flavors that I will never get the luxury of trying unless I go to Japan (or can find someone kind enough to post them to me).  

From now on I’m going to bring a Kit Kat to my exams.  Hopefully, it will give me the luck I need to get high marks. If not, I can always eat it to soothe the pain of a disappointing score.  A win-win in my books!

Where to head to learn more:

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2017/04/149199/kit-kats-hidden-meaning-japan

https://nowthisnews.com/videos/food/kit-kats-are-huge-in-japan-because-they-symbolize-good-luck

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_Kats_in_Japan

https://fortune.com/2018/03/22/japanese-kit-kats/