Over 40 million served! Famima's Gochimusubi premium rice balls

Onigiri and omusubi rice balls at Japanese convenience stores are always a popular snack (for some) or light meal (for others). Cheap, delicious and filling, they're Japan's original fast food.

Family Mart's Gochimusubi ごちむすび, a portmanteau of ご馳走 gochisō, meaning "tasty treat" and musubi, offers rice balls with premium ingredients at very reasonable prices, so it's no surprise that they have been selling well.

In fact, since the series launched in October 2020, Family Mart has sold over 40 million of them.

In addition to the existing salmon and salmon roe Gochimusubi, three new products are now joining the lineup, including omusubi made with scallops from Mutsu Bay 陸奥湾, Aomori Prefecture, grilled and flavored with butter and soy sauce, and omusubi made with とろ鯖 torosaba unloaded in Miyagi Prefecture. For those who are unfamiliar with it, torosaba is mackerel with over 21% fat. Searing it brings out an aromatic, smoky flavor which enhances its umami-rich taste.

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Gochimusibi: Butter soy scallops

• Name: ほたてバター醤油 hotate batā shōyū (butter soy scallops)
• Price: 184 yen (198 yen including tax)
• Launch date: March 16th, 2021
• Area: All Family Mart stores (except Hokkaido)
• Description: Made with scallops from Mutsu Bay in Aomori Prefecture. The scallops are boiled in soy sauce and dashi, then seasoned with butter and soy sauce and enveloped in boiled rice. You can enjoy the rich, satisfying flavor reminiscent of the kind of grilled scallops drizzled with butter and soy sauce which you can have at seafood specialty eateries and stands.

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Gochimusibi: Seared fatty mackerel

• Name: 炙りとろさば aburi torosaba (seared fatty mackerel)
• Price: 156 yen (168 yen including tax)
• Launch date: March 16th, 2021
• Area: All Family Mart stores (March 23rd in Okinawa)
• Description: This plump omusubi makes generous use of toro saba, rich in fat, unloaded in Miyagi Prefecture. After two stages of maturing with seaweed salt and salted koji, it is seared and grilled to perfection. (Specifications may vary by region)

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Joining these two Gochimusubi made with Japanese ingredients, Family Mart is also selling a 生たらこNama Tarako (salted, seasoned cod roe) version.

Gochimusibi: Seasoned Cod Roe

• Name: 生たらこ nama tarako (salted, seasoned cod roe)
• Price: 184 yen (198 yen including tax)
• Launch date: March 16th, 2021
• Area: Family Mart stores in the Kanto region
• Description: Hokkaido kelp broth and seaweed salt are used to create a two-stage maturing process that gives the cod roe a delicious flavor.

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Gochimusubi: Big Salmon Belly | Soy-Seasoned Salmon Roe

• Name: 大きな鮭はらみ ōkina sake harami (big salmon belly)
• Price: 184 yen (198 yen including tax)
• Area: All Family Mart stores
• Description: This musubi makes generous use of salmon belly, coated with soy sauce and then seared to enhance its flavor and aroma.

• Name: いくら醤油漬け Ikura shōyū-zuke (soy-seasoned salmon roe)
• Price: 184 yen (198 yen including tax)
• Area: All Family Mart stores
• Description: Marinated in a specially blended soy sauce, each salmon roe in this satisfying omusubi is bursting with umami-rich flavor.