Japan isn’t known for its spicy foods. Quite the contrary. Many items that declare themselves “spicy!!” are quite tame compared to the spice levels of other famous cuisines across Asia.
As a lover of spicy foods myself, I seek out experiences in Tokyo that go beyond the usual threshold of “slight eyebrow flinch.” So when I heard a line of potato chips here had landed some high school kids in the hospital, I knew I had to try them.
Japan’s spiciest food ever?
The product in question comes from Isoyama Corporation (็ฃฏๅฑฑๅไบ), a packaged foods manufacturer based out of Hokota in Ibaraki Prefecture. They’re part of the company’s “18็ฆ” (18-kin; R18) series, which also includes curries, chocolate, and a straight-up curry powder you can sprinkle on foods to make anything atomic.
How hot are the chips? According to the company’s website, they’re made from the infamous “ghost pepper,” or Bhut Jolokia. As measured on the Scoville scale of spiciness, the Bhut Jolokia – and, ostensibly, the chips – come out a little over one million Scoville units. For reference, the pepper spray used by cops is two million Scoville units. A habanero pepper, one step down from the ghost pepper, is about half-strength at around 580,000 units.
The chips aren’t a new product. This line has been around since the mid-2010s. Influencers in Japan love creating reaction videos of themselves trying the company’s products for the first time. Hikakin, one of Japan’s most well-known YouTubers, tried both the chips and the chocolate in 2016…much to his chagrin.
However, Isoyama’s chips took off in the news this summer during a pre-Olympics, non-Ohtani Shohei slow news cycle. A group of 14 kids at a public high school in Tokyo’s Ota City were rushed to the emergency room and treated after they shared the chips.
“I thought they were good at first,” said one student carted off the the ER. “But then the heat kicked in.”
This wasn’t the first incident of “spice emergency” in Japan. In 2019, nine kids in Nagano earned a hospital trip after playing a game of “Russian roulette” with spiced drinks.
Can spicy food hospitalize you?
Which raises the question: Can a spicy potato chip – or spicy food in general – hurt you? The answer is: yep.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, capsaicin can cause intense reactions in people unused to spicy foods. In severe cases or with people who have preexisting conditions, they can lead to belly pain, diarrhea, chest pain, headaches, and violent vomiting.
In rare cases, eating super-spicy foods can even kill you. Harris Wolobah, a 14-year-old from Massachusetts, died in September 2023 after participating in the “One Chip Challenge” promoted by Amplify Snack Brands for its Paqui Carolina Reaper chip. Wolobah had an enlarged heart and a congenital heart defect, which an autopsy listed as contributing causes of his death.
Wolobah’s family sued Amplify’s parent company, Hershey Foods, for irresponsible marketing that cajoled customers – including kids – into seeing how many chips they could eat “before you spiral out.” Others in the spicy foods industry criticized Amplify for its marketing tactics, which the brand and Hershey quickly abandoned.
To its credit, Isoyama makes it clear in the product’s name that its 18-kin line is not for kids. However, as the kids in Ota show, telling a kid they can’t have something only makes them want it more.
To boldly go where other idiots have gone before
As soon as I saw the news that a spicy potato chip had hospitalized someone, my first thought as a rational, serious adult in society was, “I gotta try it.”
Isoyama’s product has been around for a while, so it wasn’t hard to find the chips for sale on Amazon Japan (Note: Affiliate link). I placed an order the same day back in July.
Unfortunately, the negative publicity from the incident led to the unavailability of the product for a time. It’s not clear if this was due to the company withholding the product until the heat died down (heh) or if a rush of orders led to a shortage. For a time, Isoyama ran an apology on its Web site, praying for the speedy recovery of the affected high school students. (They seem to be fine.)
Over the next few weeks, the projected ship date on the order grew later and later. Eventually, I stopped checking.
Then, last week – over a month later, after I’d forgotten I’d even ordered them – the chips finally made their way to my place in Tokyo.
Build your own torture device
Strangely for an Amazon shipment, the box didn’t come nested in three other boxes like Matryoshka dolls. Instead, the company just slapped a shipping label on the package and sent it like this. It ended up in our delivery box with the box torn and crumpled. Not exactly what you want to see in potato chip packaging.
The chips don’t come ready to eat. Instead, they come like McDonald’s Japan’s Shaka Fries. You get a bag of chips, a packet of curry powder, and a bag sealer to hold the bag together while you shake the chips up.
To be honest, this was a bit disappointing. The product sells for 1,500 yen ($10 USD) on Amazon Japan. That’s a lot of money for what amounts to a bag of seasoning and an ordinary-looking batch of potato chips. I found myself wondering why I couldn’t just add the powder to a cheap bag of chips I bought from the combini.
I sprinkled the seasoning in, sealed the bag up, and shook it in several directions per the instructions. To the company’s credit, the bag sealer creates a very tight seal, which prevents the powder from wafting out and making your living room feel like an urban riot.
Admittedly, the result looked terrifying. My wife, who was in the room when I shook them (and who is not a fan of spicy things), complained she could smell the spice from five feet away after I opened the bag. Indeed, I could feel the capsaicin already irritating my nostrils.
But I persevered. In for a penny, in for a pound.
I ate three chips. Not convinced this would do the trick for some odd reason, I shoved another five into my mouth, chewed, and swallowed.
Never again
That, ladies and gentlemen, was a bad idea.
What followed was the most intense spice I’d ever experienced in my life. I found myself gasping for air. I wanted to rip my own jaw off.
The burning sensation lasted for a good couple of minutes before I felt I couldn’t take it anymore. I reached for water and ice to see if they’d tame it. I did a quick Internet search and discovered that water only causes capsaicin to spread in your mouth. Whoops.
What seemed to work was carbs and milk. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and ate it faster than anything I’d ever eaten in my life.
Within a minute or so, the burning subsided from a raging conflagration to a dull roar. Thankfully, I didn’t need to call 119 and seek medical treatment.
Proceed with caution
The next day, just for kicks, I decided to try just a single chip to see if it was tolerable.
It wasn’t. Even a single potato chip created an uncomfortable holy burning through my mouth that made my throat feel like Las Vegas in August. I ate another bowl of cereal and waited until the pain subsided.
Would I eat the 18็ฆ chips again? Probably not. Honestly, however, I might order the spice itself as a way to add a kick to recipes like soups, chilies, and curries.
If you live in Japan, you can order and try them for yourself. Just remember to proceed carefully. With great capsaicin comes great responsibility.
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ใๆฟ่พใใฃใฌใณใธใใฉใใ ใใคใใ๏ผใ้ซๆ ก็ใใ18็ฆใใงๆฌ้ใใฌใใณๅ็ปใๆต่กใฃใฆใใใใฉใๅฎใฏๆญป่ ใ. Tokyo Shimbun
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้ซๆ ก็15ไบบไฝ่ชฟไธ่ฏใ18็ฆใใใใใจใฏใ่พใใใฆใๆฎบไบบๅ ตๅจใใฎๅฃฐใใใใคใฆใใซใญใณใ้ฃในใฆ็ตถๅฅ. Mainichi Shimbun
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โๆฟ่พใใใโใง้ซๆ ก็15ไบบใไฝ่ชฟไธ่ฏโ่ฒฉๅฃฒๅ ใๅคๅคงใชใใ่ฟทๆใใไธๆฅใงใๆฉใๅๅพฉใใ็ฅใใใจ่ฌ็ฝช. ITMedia Netlab
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