(I have yet to address the wide array of breath-freshening gum and mints available in Japan, and considering I have less than two months left here, I thought I'd better hurry up and review three at once.)

Mintia Plum Cocktail flavor reveals the enthusiastic, stigma-free attitude towards alcohol in Japan. While gum and mints in the U.S. are often used to cover boozy breath, this mint provides that special post-cocktail breath one tiny tab at a time. The first strong plum wine taste is followed by an odd banana flavor and then a mellow mintiness. For such a small mint, these are amazingly effective. And they come in the coolest box ever: the size and shape of three or four stacked credit cards, it has a hinged opening with a little slot that catches one of the mints and dispenses it perfectly, avoiding the Altoids tin problem of people getting their grubby fingers all over your mints and the Tic-Tac box problem of dumping out three mints when you only wanted one. I'd buy Mintia again just for the box, and this flavor specifically for its peach-colored box!

Speaking of booze-flavored breath fresheners, Xylish Platinum Mint Chardonnay flavor is a special gum released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Meiji candy company. The first impression I had when chewing it was of champagne, fruity and sparkling (though it doesn't have any ingredients that would give it a fizzy feeling), which did somehow make me feel more celebratory, even sitting at my desk at 10:22 AM on a Thursday. Sadly, the wine flavor lasts less than a minute, transforming first into a plain grape fruitiness and quickly becoming blah. It does somehow leave you with wine-drinker's breath, but I like to think that drinker is more Sophisticated Wine Taster, not Cackling Wino.

Recaldent Ocean Fresh flavor was purchased out of the desire to discover what "Ocean Fresh" tastes like. Sea salt? Wakame? Whale meat? It turns out a fresh ocean actually tastes like a pine tree. Or something equally sharp and herbal. Who knew? It's not unpleasant, and the sharp crackle of the candy shell breaking under my teeth combined with the piney flavor and gradual xylitol cooling makes for an exceptionally refreshing gum. Eventually, the herbal taste gives way to a sweet, minty gum with a longlasting flavor. I'm going to bring this with me on my trip to Himaka Island this weekend and see if the effect is enhanced by frolicking on a beach while chewing it.