Protein snack bars are pretty easy to come by in Japan. You can pick one up at any convenience store, local supermarket, station kiosk, or some or other vending machine. Not all protein bars, however, are equal. You may prefer whey protein bars to vegan. Perhaps soy-free, sugar-free, or additive-free is your way to go. Avoid the hassle of reading complex labels and small-print Kanji! Our comparative rankings and reviews make choosing all the more easier. Grab your next box of on-the-go munch bars below.
Full-Spectrum Protein Bar Munch-Out Japan
We’ve sorted out some of the best proteins bars into four simple categories. The first two are good for lacto-vegetarians, the the latter two for vegans, and two categories are soy-free. We also give you protein content, energy, fat, and price comparisons. Each protein bar comparison table also highlights the sweeteners used, if any, and in each short review we detail any other noteworthy ingredients.
- Whey or dairy-based protein bars
- Whey-soy mixed protein bars
- Soy-based vegan protein bars
- Soy-free vegan protein bars
Best Whey or Dairy-based Protein Bars in Japan
These are all whey protein bars that use WPC, WPI, hydrolyzed milk power, or a combination of the three. Some of the protein bars may use soy lecithin as a common emulsifier. See each short review below for more details.
A comparison table of whey or milk protein bars:
Nutritional content varies slightly according to flavor. The price per bar comparison may vary between sellers and discount periods. Items are sold per box.
Ranking | Protein | Energy / Fat | Sweetner | (+/-) cost/bar |
1. Strong Bar | 20g | 236.3kcal 8.5g | Agave syrup | ￥410/本 |
2. Comp Outlier | 25.2g | 174kcal 5.4g | Erythritol | ￥355/本 |
3. Rise Foods | 20g | 280kcal 16g | None | ￥355/本 |
4. ONE Protein | 20g | 220～240kcal 7～9g | Maltitol, sucralose | ￥332/本 |
5. Power Crunch | 13g | 220kcal 5～8g | Monk fruit, stevia (sucralose, Trehalose) | ￥287/本 |
#1 – Strong Bar
- Hydrolyzed milk protein
- Gold Standard BDCG cert.
- Fiber 11g
- ￥410/本
Strong Bar is our top pick, not just for the healthy profile, but they’re made by a Japanese company called Strong Heart. They also contain some soy crisp puffs. The flavors are macha latte, coca black, milk white, and strawberry. This macha flavor contains almonds, but the others are nut-free.
#2 – Comp Outlier
- Hydrolyzed milk protein
- Creatine monohydrate 1 500mg
- L-Citrulline 1 200mg
- Caffeine 40mg
- ￥355/本
Comp Outlier is a new Japanese food brand started in 2015. Their ‘balanced complete foods’ are unique and well-formulated. This protein bar is an energy release formula. There’s only one flavor; additional ingredients include: pea protein, cocoa powder, green coffee bean extract, walnut and beetroot powder. The sweetener, erythritol, is the least of the sugar alcohols (～itols) to cause bloating or stomach upset.
#3 – Rise Foods
- Whey protein isolate
- Fiber 4g
- ￥355/本
Rise Foods is an American health brand that delivers high protein content with the minimal amount of ingredients. These protein bars are free of: preservatives, artificial agents including sweetener, sugar alcohols, gluten or flour, soy, or peanuts. Their other bars such as Lemon Cashew or Chocolatey Coconut are vegan using pea protein (15g).
#4 – ONE Protein
- WPC and WPI
- Fiber 9g
- ￥332/本
One protein bars are made in America, so the labeling is in English. This Maple Glazed Donut flavor is the most popular in Japan. For the sugar alcohols, maltitol more likely to cause an upset stomach in sensitive individuals. This flavor, for some reason, includes corn maltodextrin.
#5 – Power Crunch
- Whey protein isolate
- Fiber 1g
- ￥287/本
Power Crunch is another popular American brand protein bar. These bars come in about 18 flavors. With 13g of protein each they’re an ideal snack food. All contain soy lecithin, while other ingredients vary between flavors. Some use either sucralose or Trehalose, and a few, like Cookies and Crème, contain maltodextrin.
Best Whey & Soy Mixed Protein Bars
There’s an equal number of protein bars that mix whey and soy proteins together. Most of these are made in Japan and typically use a combination of Trehalose and sucralose for sweetening.
A comparison table of whey & soy mixed protein bars:
Nutritional content varies slightly according to flavor. The price per bar comparison may vary between sellers and discount periods. Items are sold per box.
Ranking | Protein | Energy / Fat | Sweetner | (+/-) cost/bar |
1. Fine Lab Fit | 20.6g | 236～243 kcal 13.9 ～14.7g | Sucralose, Trehalose, maltitol. | ￥370/本 |
2. Asahi Protein | 15g | 185～199 kcal 8.8～9.3g | Trehalose, (sucralose). | ￥126/本 |
3. inProtein | 16.2g | 212 kcal 12.9g | Trehalose, sucralose. | ￥116/本 |
4. Think! | 20g | 230 kcal 9g | Maltitol | ￥429/本 |
#1 – Fine Lab Fit
- WPI & Soy protein
- MCT
- Fiber: 1g
- ￥370/本
Fine Lan is one of Japan’s top producers of high-quality whey and other proteins. These bars come in Milk Chocolate and Caramel flavors. The sweeteners used are a bit of a mix with sucralose, Trehalose, and maltitol – none of them ideal for health nuts. Their FQSC logo products are externally audited once a year.
#2 – Asahi Protein
- Whey & Soy protein
- Vit B-complex rich
- Fiber 0.1～1.2g
- Informed Choice
Strawberry flavor uses Trehalose and sucralose, White and Milk Chocolate use Trehalose only, while Black Chocolate contains Trehalose, acesulfame K, and aspartame. All contain 5 B-Vitamins with a full amino breakdown on the Asahi homepage. Their Protein Run series contain less protein (10～13g), and uses fructose syrup and sugar with higher calorie count (238 kcal).
#3 – inProtein
- Whey, Casein, & Soy protein
- B-Vitamin complex
- Fiber: 6.9g
- ￥116/本
inProtein by Moringa are one of the most widely available and recognized affordable protein bars in Japan. Noteworthy ingredients include shortening and glycerin but there is no indication of either plant or animal origin. This Baked Bitter flavor has the highest protein level, Baked Chocolate is 15.9, whereas Vanilla Wafer and Café au Lait Wafer flavors have 10.3g.
#4 – Think Thin!
- WPI & Soy Isolate protein
- Natural flavoring
- GMO-free
- Fiber: 1g
Think Thin! protein bars are a good choice for a whey protein bar (with soy) but no synthetic additives. They come in a range of flavors, ingredients are fairy minimal, and all are sweetened with maltitol syrup. Some people may have a sensitive stomach reaction to the sugar alcohol maltitol. All use natural flavors and some may include vegetable glycerin. Both proteins are high quality isolates.
Best Vegan Soy-based Protein Bars in Japan
Soy protein products are pretty popular in Japan and most are targeted at women for weight control or ‘healthy diets’. For this reason, there are quite a number of all-natural choices available.
A comparison table of soy-based vegan protein bars:
Nutritional content varies slightly according to flavor. The price per bar comparison may vary between sellers and discount periods. Items are sold per box.
Ranking | Protein | Energy / Fat | Sweetner | (+/-) cost/bar |
1. Clif Builders | 20g | 280～290 kcal 6～11g | Plant syrups | ￥229/本 |
2. Soy Concept | 10.6～11.1g | 109～124kcal 3.1～5.2g | Starch syrup | ￥300/本 |
3. Seaberry | 8.2g | 116.2 kcal 5.6g | None | ￥378/本 |
4. inProtein | 10.8g | 117 kcal 0.7g | Trehalose, starch syrup, sugar | ￥143/本 |
5. Cenzbar | 9.4～10.2g | 189.5～201 kcal 9.6～13.3g | Date syrup | ￥590/本 |
#1 – Clif Builders
- Soy isolate
- Gluten-free
- GMO-free
- ￥229/本
Clif Bar is produced by a Californian company. All flavors have similar ingredients and the sweeteners used are organic cane sugar and syrup, as well as organic brown rice syrup. They’re one of the best choices for a high-protein vegan soy bar that is non-GMO and free from all synthetic additives.
#2 – Soy Concept
- Soy isoflavone
- Japanese Vegetarian Assoc.
- Additive-free
- Wheat/gluten-free
- Fiber: 1～2.6g
- ￥300/本
Soy Concept is completely free from any artificial additives. It also avoids sugar alcohols and is 100% vegan. With around 10g protein it’s a good snack bar to satiate hunger, supplement a meal, or to take 3o minutes after a workout. They come in cocoa, almond, and black sesame flavors.
#3 – Seaberry Protein Bar
- Additional soy protein
- Naturally occurring omega-7
- Natural Vitamins A, E, and C
- ￥378/本
Seaberries or seabuckthorn berries are grown in cold climates throughout Eurasia and north America. Seaberry juice and extracts are comparatively high in protein, omega oils, and numerous vitamins and minerals. People generally like the the mildly, sweet and neutral flavor. If your focus is the protein, the cost may be a little high. These bars make excellent light, healthy snacks.
Learn more about Guamaral and more SeaBerry products
#4 – inProtein Granola Bar
- Soy protein & puffs
- B-Vit complex enriched
- Fiber: 09～1.8g
- ￥143/本
These inProtein granola bars by Moringa are their only protein bars that are vegan with no whey or other milk-based ingredients. The granola includes oat flakes, raisons, dried cranberries, strawberry chips, and soy puffs. These bars also have additional iron and a B-vitamin complex activated by E-rutin. The amount of Trehalose is at least mitigated by starch syrup and sugar.
#5 – Cenzbar
- Soy protein & flour
- GMO-free
- Sugar-free
- Additive-free
- Gluten-free
- 48 nutrients
Cenzbar is the ultimate soy-based vegan nutritional bar. For the quality and scope of ingredients, they cost a fair bit more than other choices. They come in plain and cocoa flavors. Some ingredients include hemp seed, sesame paste, brown rice germ powder, coconut flakes, almonds, kale powder, Ilocos molinga, coconut oil, Brazil nuts, White fungus powder, algae (blue green algae), and kelp powder.
Best Soy-free Vegan Protein Bars in Japan
If you require soy-free vegan protein bars, your best bet are top American health brands such as Orgain, Garden of Life, and D’s Natural. There are no Japanese manufacturers included in this selection. Distributors of these products come and go, and prices can vary a lot.
A comparison table of soy-free vegan protein bars:
Nutritional content varies slightly according to flavor. The price per bar comparison may vary between sellers and discount periods. Items are sold per box.
Ranking | Protein | Energy / Fat | Sweetner | (+/-) cost/bar |
1. Garden of Life | 20g | 280 kcal 10 g | Erythritol, plant syrups, stevia | ￥460/本 |
2. No-Cow | 22g | 190 kcal 4g | Erythritol, stevia, monk fruit | ￥583/本 |
3. Orgain | 10g | 140 kcal 5g | Erythritol, sugar, tapioca syrup | ￥382/本 |
#1 – Garden of Life Performance
- Pea & Brown Rice protein
- GMO-free
- Organic
- Informed Choice
- Fiber: 9g; BCCAs 3.5g
Garden of Life is more or less your ‘professional’ vegan protein bar. Almost all ingredients are certified organic and they come in 4 rich flavors: chocolate fudge, peanut butter chocolate, chocolate mint, and slated caramel chocolate. All considering, the cost per bar is not too bad.
#2 – No Cow
- Pea & Brown Rice protein
- Non-GMO
- Gluten-free
No Cow by D’s Naturals works out as the most expensive protein bar. However, it has the highest protein content, lowest calories and fat, highest fiber content, yet simplest mix of ingredients. The flavors are also lighter than Garden of Life. You may have to search around, but you can find flavors like Blueberry Cobbler, alternatively Mint Cocoa Chip, a heavier Chocolate Fudge Brownie, or a more exotic Raspberry Truffle.
#3 – Orgain
- Pea & Rice protein
- Gluten-free
- Organic
- Fiber: 6g
- Non-GMO
Orgain is good if you don’t always needed high protein content. These bars with 10g protein are handy snacks for after a light workout, or to enjoy with a light lunch at work. You can find them in Chocolate Brownie flavor, and also Peanut Butter Chunk.
