Emergency Food in Japan: Imuraya Eiyo-Kan Yokan Sweets
What kind of emergency food is available in your country?
Here in Japan, I think Yokan, as well as Kanpan, is one of the most common, and my family stores them at home, preparing for disasters, such as typhoons and earthquakes.
Imuraya Eiyo-Kan (井村屋 えいようかん)
Yokan (ようかん/羊羹), also spelled Youkan, is a traditional Japanese confection made from Azuki red beans simmered with water and sugar and solidified with agar.
It is one of the Wagashi varieties most familiar to us Japanese and comes in several types, in which the one called Neri Yokan (煉羊羹) can be an emergency food, as I wrote in this article.
This product, named Eiyo-Kan (えいようかん), is from Imuraya (井村屋), a Japanese food company known for sweets using Azuki red beans, and we bought it on Amazon.
The product’s name is a compound word composed of Eiyo (えいよう/栄養), meaning nutrition in Japanese, and Youkan (ようかん/羊羹), and the treat offers 171 kcal per piece (60 grams).
The Neri Yokan keeps for as long as five years at room temperature and is meant for emergency food, as the diagram on the backside of the box shows how to use the Disaster Emergency Message Dial 171 provided by NTT.
Technically, the Yokan is emergency food, but its taste is as good as ordinary Neri Yokan, and you can eat it deliciously whenever you want some energy. (Ex. after a workout or at outdoor events).
Ingredients/Nutrition Facts
| Sugar, Red bean paste, Starch syrup, Agar |
Nutritional Values
| Calories | 171 kcal |
| Protein | 1.9 g |
| Fat | 0.1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 40.7 g |
| Sodium | 2 mg |
I truly enjoy reading your various articles. They are all so educational. I bought a few packets of Marumiya Furikake Rice Seasonings after reading your recommendations and I must say they made my eating lunch and dinner so much more enjoyable. Thank you.