Yamayoshi potato chip Russian Roulette

Some weeks ago, Daikichi and I were in the local convenience store. We wanted some beer and junk food, and I spied two bags of potato chips, one red, one blue, with enigmatic katakana on them. There were no images. In smaller script, there was a message, "What's your image of this flavor?"

Daikichi has a food allergy to crustaceans that will make him and me miserable , so he objected to getting the mystery bag of chips. I don't want any mishaps, so I deferred to his wisdom. I also get a mild allergic reaction to some foods, so I know better than to play food roulette.

But tonight, at the local convenience store, I spied a similar bag, this time green. And I thought I'd take a risk. The clerk saw me spying this bag of nondescript chips, and he started to approach me. But I went for it. 

On the back of the package, the copy asks the consumer, "What flavor do you imagine when you see these words?" 

"When you eat it, you might get it. You eat it and you might not figure it out. Please enjoy this new flavor experience!"

I dutifully tasted them with the idea of "piri", sharp, in mind. And right away, I got wasabi. And the chips were wonderfully light and crispy.

But this is supposedly wasabi beef. Maybe I am not sensitive, I don't know. Although I immediately got the wasabi aroma (and the attendant nose-clearing whiff) I just didn't pick up the beef aspect of the flavor. Wasabi-beef is one of Yamayoshi's famous flavors of chips. 

It's quite the gimmick, asking the consumer to guess the flavor of the contents based on the package color and one or two evocative words.

Next time Yamayoshi has a random colored bag of chips, I'll go for it. But I'll be Daikichi's poison taster. I'll make sure he isn't subjected to anything that does him in. You just never know what's in one of the Yamayoshi chip bags.