One of the most wonderful things about a Japanese winter is the abundance of hot drinks that become available at convenience stores and vending machines on street corners. There’s nothing quite like popping a coin into a machine on a freezing cold night or while making your way to work, only to have a piping hot can delivered into your frozen palms; it’s an experience that’s almost as satisfying as actually drinking the hot beverage and warming yourself from the inside out!

Stumbling across a good hot soup other than corn potage when scouring the drinks display is always a rare bonus and now that’s something we can look forward to, especially after a night of drinking, with the new canned miso soup from Nagatanien. Filled with the power of ornithine, an amino acid abundant in clams, this is a traditional hangover remedy from Japan, now packed in a can!

People in Japan know the easiest way to get a good dose of ornithine is with a serving of instant miso soup from Nagatanien. Ornithine has been known to reduce stress level, prevent fatigue and help improve the quality of sleep. Its biggest selling point, however, is the fact that it enhances liver function and helps to detoxify harmful substances—a fact that’s long been known in Japan, where they’ve been eating clams, one of nature’s most abundant sources of the amino acid, to help ease the severity of hangovers for centuries.

▼ Who wants to eat 70 clams when you can drink it instead? The “Power of 70 Clams” instant miso soup series from Nagatanien has been around for years and is commonly seen on supermarket shelves.

02

At the top right of their soup-in-a-can is the company’s endorsement of their product as a hangover helper; a cute cartoon image of a person with a beer glass that says, “For the alcohol-loving you”. For best results, our “alcohol-loving” selves should have one of these before bed after a night of drinking to help improve and lengthen the quality of sleep while our livers do the heavy work of detoxification.

01

While Nagatanien has long been providing instant soup servings to make at home, this is the first time for the company to venture out into the canned soup market. Currently available from vending machines at main train stations around the country and on sale from 26 October for 121 yen (US$1.02) at convenience stores nationwide, be sure to seek out one of these after your next nomikai drinking party!

Source: Narinari
Images: Nagatanien