Don Quijote (ドン・キホーテ), or Don Don Donki in overseas, is a shop famous for discounted products. Shops are usually located in the main street of the major cities, and not a small number of them are open for 24 hours.
The shop is full of groceries, snacks, cosmetics or even Japanese souvenirs. We guess most of you will head to Don Quijote to buy souvenirs, so read this article carefully if you want to know what Halal souvenirs are available in the shop!
List of 8 recommended Halal souvenirs available at Don Quijote.
Please be reminded that the following products are just free from haram ingredients, but there is a risk of contamination in the making process. Some of them are using flavoring, which can be extracted by using alcohol.
You can jump to the snack that you are interested in.
Asterisk* means that flavoring whose source can be alcohol. This percentage is quite low and not used to intoxicate someone.
Endless Shrimp rice cracker / Kameda Seika
This is relatively a new snack from Kameda Seika, Niigata. The snack has been on the market since 2021, and within the first week, they reached million bags sales!
Once you start eating this snack, we are sure that you can never stop eating. The snack is salted and has a flavor of shrimps! The texture is light that does not have a bad aftertaste.
Happy Turn is known as very Muslim-friendly, also from Kameda Seika. At Don Quijote, you can find some local limited flavors such as Hokkaido Cheese, Sendai Zunda mochi or Osaka Takoyaki Flavor in addition to normal flavor.
Though it is impossible to say that they are all Halal at this stage, many of them do not contain animal-derived ingredients! However, try to buy a plain flavor if ingredients are not confirmed that they are free from animal-derived ingredients.
Credit: https://www.kamedaseika.co.jp/
Ingredients
Non glutinous rice, Plant oil, Sugar, Starch, Sugar, Protein hydrolysate from Soybean, Powdered oil, Yeast powder, Modified starch, Seasoning like Amino acid, Lecithin from Plant
Hokkaido Cheese flavor is certified free-from animal ingredients.
Kinakomochi rice cracker / Echigo Seika
Kinakomochi is a sweet rice cake with dried soybean powder, which has a gentle sweetness. Now it is made as a rice cracker by Echigo Seika! This rice cracker is extremely light and has a fluffy texture, and it almost melts in your mouth, but it is a rice cracker.
As the snack is made based on a concept of traditional Japanese sweet, it is an ideal gift from Japan.
Credit: https://www.echigoseika.co.jp/
Ingredients
Plant oil, Glutinous rice, Sugar, dried soybean powder, Glucose, Japanese Traditional sugar, Salt
Price
257 yen
Pocky / glico
As confirmed in this article Are Pocky and PRETZ Halal?, Pocky is confirmed it is free from haram ingredients! The great thing about the products in Don Quijote is that they have local limited flavors, such as Hokkaido Melon, Kyushu Strawberry and so on.
As these flavors can be extracted from alcohol, the product is not a genuine halal product, but of course, the percentage is quite low and not enough to make someone intoxicated, so it can be Halal for most of you we guess!
Bourbon is known as a very Muslim-friendly company, and many of their products do not contain any haram ingredients!
At Don Quijote, we have found Alfort, a chocolate with a crunchy digestive biscuit, with a shape of ship. There are plain chocolate and Matcha green tea flavors available! Whichever you choose, they are free from animal-derived ingredients and liquor.
Although they contain flavoring in their ingredients, these 2 chocolates are generally considered as Halal by many Muslims in Japan. These chocolates are for daily consumption and not made as a souvenir, but the quality is just great and are often chosen as a Japanese souvenir.
This is another famous product from Meiji. They are a chocolate snacks whose shapes are either mushroom Kinoko, or baby bamboo Takenoko. The biscuits are soft and easy to munch, so it is a snack that we Japanese are all grown up with since our childhood.
There is always a dispute among Japanese which one is better or more popular, but as there is no haram ingredients, you can try them and find out your answer!
*Shortening, Margarine and Emulsifier are confirmed plant based.
Price
210 yen
Pringles / Kellogg
Did you know that pringles in Japan are made in Malaysia and most of them are Halal certified? The flavors that tourists want to try may be local limited flavors such as Takoyaki from Osaka, but unfortunately these flavors are not certified as Halal.
Still, there is a great news for this! We got in touch with Kellogg and confirmed if there is any animal-derived ingredients used in these local limited editions. The answer is that they are still manufactured in Malaysia and do not contain any haram ingredients or alcohol! They said that milk is used and it is the only ingredient from animal.
We can say that Pringles are the safest potato chips in Japan for Muslims, so don’t hesitate to take one for your friends!
Credit: https://www.pringles.com/jp
Halal status
The product has not obtained Halal certificate, but it is made in a factory in Malaysia with Halal certificate, and all the items are free from haram ingredients.
Yes, there is! So when going to Don Quijote, never forget to bring your passport with you.
There is a Tax-Refund counter in each shop, and you just have to bring your items to the counter. The staff will charge you the amount without Tax, which means you can get Tax refunded on the spot.
To enjoy Tax free shopping, you have to buy 5,000 yen or more. They will put your purchased items into a plastic bag, but make sure you never open the bag until you complete passport control in the airport. If found open, they will charge you the Tax.
Is it always the cheapest to buy at Don Quijote?
As all the items except for Pringles are available in supermarkets and convenience stores, the price may be more reasonable in such places. However, because there is a Tax-free shopping in Don Quijote, if you buy some souvenirs all at the same time, the price may be cheaper.
Tax rate in Japan is 10%. If the price in supermarkets is cheaper by 10% or more, then buy them at supermarkets.
Cautions when buying at Don Quijote.
Because Don Quijote has shops everywhere throughout Japan, the stocks may not be the same. We have checked all Don Quijote shops in Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe and Sapporo, but there is a risk that you might not find in the shop you visit. In this case, you may find the same products in the pharmacy with groceries or in souvenir shops.
Items we have introduced to you are very popular among tourists including Muslims, but none of them are Halal certified. If you want to buy a souvenir for someone who wishes to have only Halal food, we ask you to buy a souvenir which has a Halal certificate.
