Tokyo Banana – Fluffy Sponge Cake with Banana Custard Filling, Still The Most Popular Tokyo Snack After 27 Years

Whenever tourists travel to Tokyo, they will most definitely buy back the famous Tokyo Banana souvenir sweet. Even though there are constantly plenty of other new snacks coming up, this classic sweet is arguably still the most popular Tokyo snack!

Tokyo Banana

In case you didn’t know, the Tokyo Banana is a sponge cake with banana custard cream filling.

The sponge cake is steamed after baking to create its fluffy texture. The banana custard is made from strained banana puree.

Tokyo Banana is a super popular souvenir sweet, and has been on sale in Japan for almost 30 years since 1991.

Super Delicious Classic Sweet!

There is a reason why this souvenir sweet is so crazily popular, and it’s simply because it’s really delicious!

I really enjoy eating the sponge cake which is very light and fluffy, and has a subtle but alluring banana fragrance.

But the pièce de résistance is of course the banana custard cream inside! It has this luscious texture and a wonderfully sweet flavour that always gets me hooked from the first mouthful.

Menu / Price

The Tokyo Banana (original flavour) are sold in boxes of four (483 YEN), eight (1,029 YEN) and twelve (1,543 YEN). You can refer to the picture above to see the prices of other Tokyo Banana flavours.

Where to Buy

You can buy Tokyo Banana at Japan airports, Subway Stations, along Major Highways, and at various department stores. For a complete list of locations, you can visit the Tokyo Banana’s English website.

We bought ours from Tokyo Station, which has quite a few Tokyo Banana shops. There are plenty of other wonderful snack shops here too!

We went to the shop on a Thursday at about 1.45pm and there were only a few people in the queue.

Conclusion

I have to say that out of all the Tokyo snacks, the classic Tokyo Banana is still my favourite. They are super delicious and make for the perfect souvenirs from Japan. The only (minor) downside is that they expire quickly in around ten days, so you need to eat them fast. Refrigerating them can probably stretch the expiry date by a day or two. And that’s it! We hope you will enjoy this delicious snack as much as us!

Tokyo Banana (Tokyo Station)
There are plenty of Tokyo Banana locations in Tokyo Station, you can check out their website for the complete list.

This article is part of our super awesome Ultimate Tokyo Travel Guide For First Timers. Everything you need to know about Tokyo is just a click away!