Pocky - Mikado

Pocky is a snack made by Glico here in Osaka, a cookie stick dipped in chocolate. It's really, really popular in Japan, and is sold in a number of other countries too. When in Paris last summer we found "Mikado", apparently Pocky by another name. We had to compare.

Mikado and Pocky. Below a Mikado stick on the top, and Pocky on the bottom.

Both are made by Glico. The Mikado stick is a bit shorter, and the taste was a little different - but we got milk chocolate Mikado, and dark chocolate Pocky so that's no surprise. The cookie seems to be the same. If you get a Pocky craving in France, you can safely look for a Mikado box and rest assured that you're getting the real thing.

The Glico Running Man. The company has had some version of this billboard up on Dōtonbori for almost a century, and it's become one of the iconic images of Osaka.