Shop: Tokyo Banana Tree (inside Tokyo Solamachi, at Tokyo SkyTree)
Address: 1F Block 1, 1-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida 131-0045, Tokyo Prefecture
City: Tokyo, Japan

A friend went to Korea and Japan, and brought back some Japanese souvenir sweets/snacks, also called miyagegashi. Wikipedia has a short explanation of the term ‘souvenir sweet’:

Miyagegashi, also Miyagekashi (土産菓子, literally “souvenir sweet”), refers to a sweet made with the purpose of selling it as a souvenir. As with most other Japanese souvenirs (omiyage), the typical miyagegashi is a regional specialty (meibutsu), and cannot be bought outside its specific geographic area. The making and selling of omiyagegashi is an important part of Japan’s omiyage (souvenir) industry.

My friend was at the SkyTree Tower in Tokyo and picked up a few of the Tokyo Banana Tree products.

Tokyo Banana is the most popular Tokyo souvenir sweets from Tokyo SkyTree. Carolyn Tay shares some details about Tokyo Banana:

What is Tokyo Banana? Tokyo Banana is a soft plain sponge cake filled with banana custard cream. It’s a famous Japanese snack and you can only purchase them in Japan or through online! It is a MUST HAVE food souvenir when you visit Japan.

Location: You can purchase it at any convenient stores in major stations, Narita or Haneda Airport. For the Tokyo Banana Tree (leopard print), they are only available at the SkyTree Tower. It was launched to celebrate the opening of the tower and that explains why the name has a tree behind.

**Note: This product needs to be consumed within 7 days only. It is recommended to be purchased on the last day of your trip.

Tokyo Banana has several product lines, with each one represented by an animal print. The Tokyo Banana Tree line is characterized by having a leopard print. The “original” Tokyo Banana Tree is a sponge cake with a soft and creamy banana-chocolate flavored filling (東京ばな奈ツリー チョコバナナ味、「見ぃつけたっ」). Click on the image below for the Tokyo Banana Tree website!

Tokyo Banana tree can be purchased in the following package sizes (with prices taken from Tokyo Banana Tree):

• 4 pieces — ¥515 JPY
• 8 pieces — ¥1,080 JPY
• 12 pieces — ¥1,595 JPY

Scroll down to see how it looked like when I unwrapped and ate it!

It did have the texture of a soft and smooth sponge cake, with chocolate cream that had a subtle hint of banana flavor!

My friend also gave me a piece of Tokyo Banana Tree’s Syally Mate (東京ばな奈ツリー シャリーメイト「見ぃつけたっ」). Syally Mate is banana flavored chocolate sandwiched with langue de chat cookie. Langue de chat is French for “cat tongue“, which is basically a small cookie shaped like a cat’s tongue.

Syally Mate can be purchased in the following package sizes (with prices taken from Tokyo Banana Tree):

• 8 pieces –¥617 JPY
• 16 pieces –¥1,080 JPY
• 24 pieces –¥1,620 JPY
• 32 pieces –¥2,160 JPY
• 48 pieces –¥3,240 JPY

Each package has half white chocolate with lighter-colored langue de chat, and half milk chocolate with darker-colored langue de chat.

I had the white chocolate version.

The white chocolate had a subtle hint of banana flavor as well. The langue de chat was thin and crispy.

If you’re in Tokyo, be sure to try Tokyo Banana Tree, Syally Mate, and other Tokyo Banana products! Just a friendly advice- there’s an expiration date on the products so if you’re purchasing to bring back home, it’s best to get them on your last day in town. There might be Tokyo Banana Tree products at Haneda/Narita Airport, but I’d get them at SkyTree to be safe.