15 Best Japanese Potato Chips: Popular Chips From Japan to Try

Japanese potato chips come in flavors you rarely see anywhere else, such as seaweed and salt, consommé, wasabi and beef, and pickled plum. Makers also experiment with texture, from thin, light chips to hard-bite kettle-style chips and thick-cut chips topped with melted cheese flakes.

In this guide, we introduce the 15 best Japanese potato chips, from best-selling classics to premium and regional-style picks. For each one, we explain what it is, why people love it, and which flavors to try first.

Japanese Potato Chips List: 15 Picks at a Glance

How We Picked These Japanese Potato Chips

We chose long-selling potato chips that are regular products in Japan, and we covered a range of styles: thin chips, hard-bite chips, thick-cut chips, premium chips, and formed chips. Most come from Calbee and Koikeya, the makers behind many of Japan’s best-known potato chips, and we also included chips from Yamayoshi, Yamazaki Biscuits, and Studio Socio.

The numbers in this list are for easy reference, not a sales ranking. Product details and flavors come from each maker’s official website and press releases.

1. Potato Chips Usushio (Calbee)

What It Is

Calbee Potato Chips Usushio are thin, light, crisp chips with a lightly salted flavor. Calbee seasons them with several kinds of salt, including sea salt and rock salt, and adds kombu extract for umami.

Why It’s Popular

In Calbee’s official list of its best-selling products in Japan for fiscal 2025, Usushio ranked third across the company’s whole range. Calbee adjusts the oil temperature, chip thickness, and frying time to suit the condition of the potatoes.

Must-Try Flavors

Usushio (lightly salted) is the classic. It comes in bag sizes from small to party size.

2. Potato Chips Consommé Punch (Calbee)

What It Is

Consommé Punch is a thin, crisp chip with a rich consommé seasoning. The powder is based on a two-stage consommé soup, where meat is simmered first and vegetables are added later, plus a “secret punch powder” of spices.

Why It’s Popular

It ranked fourth in Calbee’s list of its best-selling products in Japan for fiscal 2025. Note that its allergen list includes wheat, beef, sesame, soybean, chicken, pork, and apple.

Must-Try Flavors

The original Consommé Punch, plus Consommé W Punch, sold at convenience stores.

3. Kataage Potato (Calbee)

What It Is

Kataage Potato is a hard-bite, kettle-style chip. Calbee fries thick slices in small batches at a low temperature, which creates irregular shapes, some twisted or folded.

Why It’s Popular

The crunchy bite is very different from thin chips, and Kataage Potato Usushio ranked sixth in Calbee’s list of its best-selling products in Japan for fiscal 2025. The Usushio flavor uses Setouchi sea salt with kombu and bonito umami. Because the chips are hard, Calbee recommends them for ages 4 and up and advises chewing well.

Must-Try Flavors

Usushio, Black Pepper, and Yaki Nori (grilled seaweed).

4. Potato Chips Nori Shio (Calbee)

What It Is

Nori Shio (seaweed and salt) is one of Japan’s signature chip flavors. Calbee’s version uses two seaweeds, aonori and aosa, with scallop extract for umami and a little chili.

Why It’s Popular

Seaweed-flavored chips are hard to find outside Japan, which makes it a fun one to try. It ranked seventh in Calbee’s list of its best-selling products in Japan for fiscal 2025.

Must-Try Flavors

The original Nori Shio, and Nori Shio Punch, sold in some regions.

5. Karamucho (Koikeya)

What It Is

Karamucho is Koikeya’s spicy potato chip. The Hot Chili flavor combines meat and vegetable umami with chili heat, and the chips are made with 100% Japanese-grown potatoes.

Why It’s Popular

It balances spiciness with savory flavor, so it is easy to keep eating. There is also Stick Karamucho, a stick-shaped version. Note that its allergen list includes milk, wheat, soybean, chicken, pork, and gelatin.

Must-Try Flavors

Karamucho Chips Hot Chili and Stick Karamucho Hot Chili.

6. Koikeya Potato Chips Nori Shio (Koikeya)

What It Is

Koikeya’s Potato Chips Nori Shio are classic chips seasoned with two seaweeds, aonori and aosa, plus salt. They are made with 100% Japanese-grown potatoes and have a short ingredient list.

Why It’s Popular

It is a simple, classic choice for nori shio fans, and its short seasoning list lets the seaweed flavor stand out. It comes in many bag sizes, including a multipack of small bags.

Must-Try Flavors

Nori Shio is the one to try from Koikeya’s Potato Chips line.

7. Pizza Potato (Calbee)

What It Is

Pizza Potato is a thick-cut chip topped with cheese-flavored flakes that Calbee melts onto the surface. It has meat, tomato, and spice notes, with salami-style chips, parsley, and oregano in the seasoning.

Why It’s Popular

The amount of cheese varies from chip to chip, so every bite is a little different. It ranked ninth in Calbee’s list of its best-selling products in Japan for fiscal 2025. Note that its allergen list includes milk, wheat, beef, soybean, chicken, pork, apple, and gelatin.

Must-Try Flavors

The original Pizza Potato. Calbee also releases limited flavors from time to time.

8. Potato Chips Shiawase Butter (Calbee)

What It Is

Shiawase Butter (“happy butter”) is a thin, crisp chip with a sweet and salty butter flavor. It is seasoned with butter, honey, parsley, and mascarpone, plus a hint of lemon.

Why It’s Popular

The sweet-salty taste makes it different from most savory chips. Because it contains honey, Calbee says it should not be given to infants under one year old.

Must-Try Flavors

The original Shiawase Butter, and Shiawase Butter W with twice the butter, sold at convenience stores.

9. Suppamucho (Koikeya)

What It Is

Suppamucho is Koikeya’s sour potato chip. The Sappari Ume flavor has a gentle plum sourness and sweetness, with ume vinegar powder, powdered vinegar, soy sauce powder, and aosa seaweed in the seasoning.

Why It’s Popular

Sour chips flavored with Japanese plum are hard to find outside Japan. The chips are made with 100% Japanese-grown potatoes, and there is also a stick version.

Must-Try Flavors

Sappari Ume (plum) and Jagauma Vinegar.

10. Pure Potato (Koikeya)

What It Is

Pure Potato is a thick-cut chip made by slicing raw, 100% Japanese-grown potatoes and frying them. Koikeya designs it to taste like French fries.

Why It’s Popular

Koikeya says Pure Potato sales grew to 139% of the previous year (shipment value, August 2025–June 2026). The Okhotsk Salt & Rock Salt flavor blends two salts for a simple, potato-forward taste.

Must-Try Flavors

Okhotsk Salt & Rock Salt, Rich Nori Shio, and Ketchup.

11. Wasabeef (Yamayoshi)

What It Is

Wasabeef is a potato chip with a sharp wasabi kick and a rich beef flavor. Yamayoshi makes the wasabi powder from Japanese-grown wasabi and uses 100% Japanese-grown, non-GMO potatoes.

Why It’s Popular

The combination of wasabi heat and beef flavor is unique to Japan. Yamayoshi says its chips are sliced to about 1mm and fried in a blend of palm and rice bran oil. Note that its allergen list includes wheat, milk, beef, soybean, chicken, and gelatin.

Must-Try Flavors

The original Wasabeef, Shio Beef, and Mentai Mayo Beef.

12. Pride Potato (Koikeya)

What It Is

Pride Potato is Koikeya’s premium chip line, made with 100% Japanese-grown potatoes. The slices are fried at three different temperatures for a light, crisp texture and seasoned in two steps: first with a flavored oil, then with seasoning powder.

Why It’s Popular

The careful process gives it a richer flavor than everyday chips. The Kami Nori Shio flavor uses three kinds of seaweed: aonori, aosa, and roasted nori.

Must-Try Flavors

Kami Nori Shio, Zokkon Rock Salt, and Jonetsu Consommé.

13. Potato Chips The Thick Cut (Calbee)

What It Is

Calbee Potato Chips The Thick Cut are thick, ridged chips with a crunchy bite. The lightly salted version uses two salts, Ako salt and Gotonada salt, with hints of scallop, kelp, bonito, and onion.

Why It’s Popular

It offers a heartier crunch than thin chips, with a seasoning designed for thick-cut chips.

Must-Try Flavors

Lightly Salted, Nori Shio, and Consommé.

14. Chip Star (Yamazaki Biscuits)

What It Is

Chip Star is a formed potato chip made from potato dough, sold in a tube. The chips have a curved oval shape, and the flavor is kneaded into the dough.

Why It’s Popular

The tube keeps the chips neatly stacked and easy to carry. It also comes in many flavors, and Yamazaki Biscuits lists none of the 28 major allergens for the lightly salted version, although it is made on equipment shared with shrimp, crab, wheat, egg, and milk.

Must-Try Flavors

Lightly Salted, Consommé, Nori Salt, and Sour Cream Onion.

15. Hula’s Maui Chips (Studio Socio)

What It Is

Hula’s Maui Chips are thick-cut, kettle-style potato chips with Hawaiian-inspired flavors. They are made with Japanese-grown potatoes, and the Kai (sea) Salt flavor uses a sea salt made only from seawater.

Why It’s Popular

The hearty crunch and island-style flavors make them stand out from typical Japanese chips. In Japan, they are sold at stores such as KALDI Coffee Farm.

Must-Try Flavors

Kai Salt, Hawaiian Sour Cream, and Garlic! Garlic Shrimp.

What Makes Japanese Potato Chips Different

The biggest difference is the flavors. Japanese chips often use ingredients like seaweed, kombu, bonito, wasabi, and pickled plum, and consommé and butter-honey flavors are everyday favorites. Many makers also highlight the origin of their ingredients, such as 100% Japanese-grown potatoes or salt from a specific region.

Makers also compete on texture, with thin chips, hard-bite kettle-style chips, thick-cut chips, and formed chips all on the same shelf. Limited and regional flavors appear often, so there is always something new to try.

Where to Buy Japanese Potato Chips Outside Japan

The easiest way to get Japanese potato chips is to order directly from Japan with kachicollect. We only carry products made for the Japanese market, and you pay the listed price plus shipping, with no proxy fees. The total, including import duties, is shown at checkout in your local currency, and orders ship worldwide with tracking, arriving in about 7 to 14 days.

If you can’t find a snack in our shop, send us the product link from a Japanese marketplace. You’ll get an instant quote and can buy it directly on kachicollect.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most popular potato chips in Japan?

Calbee says it holds a 72.3% share of Japan’s potato-based snack market (Intage SRI+, sales value, April 2025–March 2026). In Calbee’s own list of its best-selling products in Japan for fiscal 2025, Potato Chips Usushio and Consommé Punch ranked third and fourth. For more popular Japanese treats, see our list of the best Japanese snacks.

What potato chip flavors are unique to Japan?

Nori Shio (seaweed and salt), Consommé, Wasabeef (wasabi and beef), Suppamucho’s pickled plum, and Shiawase Butter’s sweet butter and honey are good examples of flavors you rarely find outside Japan.

What is the difference between potato chips and formed chips?

Most potato chips are made by slicing and frying raw potatoes. Formed chips, such as Chip Star, are made from a potato dough that is shaped into uniform chips, which is why they can be stacked neatly in a tube. To learn more about the companies behind these snacks, read our guide to Japanese snack brands.

Can I buy Japanese potato chips online from outside Japan?

Yes. kachicollect ships Japan-only snacks worldwide with tracking, and the total including duties is shown before you pay. If a snack isn’t in our shop, send us the product link to get a quote.

Conclusion

From classic Usushio and Nori Shio to spicy Karamucho and wasabi-packed Wasabeef, Japanese potato chips offer flavors and textures you won’t find anywhere else. If you’re new to them, start with Usushio, Consommé Punch, and Kataage Potato, then try Wasabeef or Suppamucho for something different.

The best way to get the real thing is to order directly from Japan with kachicollect. You get the same chips sold in Japanese stores, the total including duties is shown before checkout, and first-time customers can use the code WELCOME20 for 20% off.