菓 means 'candy'

As this bundle shows, one country far from Japan has left a large mark on its culture. In 1543, the first Portuguese ship drifted onto a Kyushu island, introducing guns to Japan. By the end of the Warring States era (1467–1568), Japan had more guns than any other nation. Firearms overpowered older weapons (e.g., spears), producing a lopsided victory for musketeers in one of Japan's civil wars. Portuguese missionaries and traders also brought in Christianity and a cake called castella, long a specialty of Nagasaki. The Portuguese had considerable influence there, and Nagasaki has prominent Catholic churches even now.

Westernizing in the Meiji era (1868–1912) changed the way the Japanese drank and ate, as this bundle reflects. Importing British machinery enabled people to mass-produce shochu. Western confections flowed into Japan, and the arrival of ice cream inspired a green tea flavor. Before 1868, the Japanese didn't eat beef, believing cows to be exclusively for physical labor. Buddhism also drove a disdain for consuming quadrupeds. But with westernization the Japanese suddenly viewed beef consumption　as enlightened. Out of discomfort, though, they did name some meat dishes with flowery euphemisms (e.g., peonies and cherry blossoms).