Japan Supermarket Diaries #3: This Japanese Melon Biscuit Was Half Price — and Surprisingly Good

A melon-flavoured biscuit with a crystalline sugar glaze, found at half price. Worth it at full price too — but only if you have tea nearby.

Another Daikoku Drug clearance find. The original price on this was ¥128 (¥139 with tax) — I paid ¥58 plus tax, roughly half. At that point the question isn’t really whether to buy it. You just do.

Heiwado’s Shari-Shari Melon Biscuit is a 43g bag of melon-flavoured biscuits coated in a crystalline sugar glaze. “Shari-shari” is a Japanese sound word — onomatopoeia for a light, crunchy, slightly icy texture. Think of the sound of biting into a sugar-glazed biscuit and you’re most of the way there.

The product

Heiwado Shari-Shari Melon Biscuit — 43g

This biscuit contains actual melon juice concentrate, which puts it a step above most melon-flavoured snacks that rely entirely on artificial flavouring.

The melon flavour is present and recognisable — not subtle, not overpowering — and comes through immediately on the first bite.

The biscuit itself is slightly moist rather than dry and crumbly, which is unusual for this type of snack and a pleasant surprise. The sugar glaze on the outside is what delivers the shari-shari sensation: a thin crystalline coating that gives a faint crunch before the softer biscuit underneath.

Price paid: ¥58 plus tax at Daikoku Drug. Original price: ¥128 (¥139 tax included) — about $0.87 at April 2026 rates (approximately ¥159 per USD).

There’s no individual wrapping inside the bag — this is a single-serving snack clearly meant to be finished in one sitting.

The taste

Sweet. Properly sweet.

43g is not a large amount of food, but don’t let the size mislead you. This biscuit sits firmly in the sweet end of the spectrum — the melon flavour is sugary, the glaze adds another layer of sweetness on top, and the whole thing lands quite rich despite the modest portion size. It’s satisfying in the way that a well-made sweet snack should be: you finish the bag and feel like you had something, not like you’re still waiting for the flavour to arrive.

“43g sounds like almost nothing. Eat it and you’ll understand why the bag isn’t bigger.”

The pairing

Make tea first. Unsweetened.

This is one of those snacks that benefits significantly from something bitter alongside it. My recommendation is plain black tea — no sugar, no milk. The slight bitterness of a good black tea cuts through the sweetness of the biscuit and makes each bite taste cleaner. Without it, the sweetness can stack up across the bag. With it, the whole thing becomes more balanced and easier to enjoy from first to last piece.

This pairing isn’t required — but it does turn a good snack into a better one. If you’re someone who finds Japanese sweets occasionally too sweet, this is the approach.

Worth buying?

Yes — at half price, immediately. At full price, still yes.

At ¥58 this was an easy decision. At ¥139 it’s still a reasonable purchase — the texture is distinctive, the melon flavour is backed by actual fruit juice, and 43g is the right size for a single afternoon snack. The lack of individual wrapping means you commit to finishing the bag, which at this size isn’t a hardship.

Found at Daikoku Drug, Kagawa, on clearance. Heiwado is a Japanese supermarket chain based in the Kansai and Chubu regions. Their own-brand snacks occasionally appear at discount retailers. Check the snack or biscuit aisle — and check the clearance section first.