Top Brand: Ishiya: Hokkaido Confectionery, and Marketing Warfare
The top brand for Hokkaido confectionery is Ishiya for their most delightful tasting "Shiroi Koibito (White Lover)" Langue du Chat biscuits. The popularity of this brand has even spawned a suspiciously similar-looking knock-off brand called "Watashi no Koibito (My Lover)". I've tasted both brands, and Ishiya the famous one is by far the best..... even though they were exposed in a quality control scandal in 2007 by which it was discovered that raw material ingredients whose use-by dates had expired were used regardless. They pulled their products off the shelves, rehabilitated, and came back with a vengeance, as this product is now consistently sold-out even several months after re-introduction. Marketing gimmick? Perhaps. But we were "lucky" to be in the right place and right time at only one of many shops visited and finally able to purchase even just a limited number per...
