A Dericious Chocolate Snack…

A special promotional edition of Toppo chocolates, using the name Toppa instead

A special promotional edition of Toppo chocolates, using the name Toppa instead

…with a name that may seem familiar. The usual name for these is Toppo, and I’ve seen them before in Japanese markets in the US, but they’ve decided to at least temporarily give them the far superior name, Toppa.

Also note the “School of Lock” ad on the box. There are sounds in Japanese that are hard for me to distinguish, and many Japanese have the same problem with certain sounds in English. In this case, it’s a not a mistake, it’s a self-conscious joke - there’s a small image of a lock next to the text. From what I can tell, School of Lock is a radio program marketed to students.

And for my fellow CGS Japanese students, note the Katakana across the top of the “T”, which still says Toppo. The “po” (ポ) is stylized. In the US we see English letters stylized in all kinds of ways, and it’s the same in Japan with Katakana and Hiragana. Since I’m surrounded by Japanese signs everywhere I go, my reading is getting much faster (not that I always know the meaning, however), and I’m catching on to the various stylizations.