Japanese festival food: frankfurters

Have you ever wondered if they have frankfurters in Japan? Well, the good news for fans of frankfurters is that not only do they have them in Japan, they often have them at festivals too! There are many different food stalls at festivals in Japan. The large festivals have hundreds of food stalls. And with the cherry blossom festivals set to start any day now, I thought I'd continue my series of 'Japanese festival food' posts. 

Frankfurters

You can buy frankfurters in grocery stores nationwide. I can't speak to their authenticity, because I hadn't eaten a lot of frankfurters before I came to Japan. Sausages are much more popular than frankfurters in my home country (Ireland). Also, disclaimer: I am not an expert on frankfurters! But what I can tell you is that if the food stall has "frankfurters" フランクフルト, as per the picture above, rather than "hot dog" written on it, it usually means the frankfurter is on a stick. Whereas with a "hot dog" stand, the frankfurter will be in a bun. 

The range of the tastes of the frankfurter is quite broad and, like with most things, you can be lucky and get a delicious one, or unlucky and get one that is not so palatable. I have experienced both over the years. They are a convenient street food to purchase at a festival though, because you can easily walk and eat them when they are on a stick. Although, they can be a bit messy if you get sauce and mustard on them!

The price varies greatly too. The most recent one I bought, just last week for my daughter, was 500 yen. She enjoyed it, but to look at it it really didn't look like 500 yen's worth! Have you ever tried a frankfurter from a Japanese festival food stall?