Even a cursory check of convenience store shelves these days shows how the omake giveaways that makers once offered as lures to buy certain candies have now become the main selling points themselves. After all, how many people would pay 300 yen just for the two almond chocolates in a packet of "Time Slip Glico" -- without the miniature CD omake?
Teruhisa Kitahara, the director of the Tin Toy Museum in Yokohama -- whose book titled "Omake no Hakubu- tsushi (Natural History of Omake)" was published in August -- is in no doubt that the omake cart is well ahead of the candy horse in the minds of many buyers.
"It's simple," he says, "Candies with omake are popular because they are cheap and good. And to most people, these small figurines or mini-CDs alone look to be worth more than the 300 yen price of one package."