The top of the bag in Japanese in large blue script " Paati Taimu"

The larger blue script at the bottom of the bag next to "Party Time" says in Japanese "Gogojaru" (the reflection on the first character makes it tough to read)

The smaller blue colored script in Japanese above the "Let's Party" at the top of the bag is too small for me to make out.

Hope that helps.

---Jensen

> "Tanoshii nakama to sugosu hito toki. Saa. issho ni(!)"

"A TIME SPENT WITH FUN COMPANIONS - COME ON NOW, ALL TOGETHER!"

> "Paati Taimu"

"PARTY TIME"

Plus, the "Wai Wai" & "Gaya Gaya" parts written in white at the top corners are both forms of Japanese onomotopoeia used to convey the sounds of a noisy party.

I can't read all of the red and gold sticker in the middle, but it looks more like Chinese.
The 3rd character has got to be the one for "crab", "xie"(falling tone) in Mandarin; and the 4th one I know as "zai" in Cantonese (and Mandarin too, i think) - used for young/baby animals, and has some other meanings too.

There's a user on forum.hongkong.com using those 2 characters with an English username of Crab Boy...

I think it just means "crab", or maybe little crabs, but I'm no expert on Chinese.

I was waiting for original poster (Savage?) to take the bait and ask for an translation in English, upon which I was going to tell him it said, "GO SEAHAWKS!!"...however...

Can you make out the sentence below the katakana, "Party Time" and above the English "Let's Party"? It is difficult for me to clearly
make out the characters. I can see, "__shii__kan(?)no __ __ __"

---Jensen

The shells crunched nicely, though. Charles M. ate most of the bag. I couldn't finish the crab I started.

Nothing really, Catherine. They are
just one of the scores of snack foods Japanese consume when drinking. Stores
in Japan sell many types of snacks that are meant to be consumed when
drinking copious amounts of alcohol..an activity where the Japanese
excel beyond most others.I could go on about the the importance of drinking in Japanese culture and its relationship to the the Japanese creation theory, however people's eyes usually glaze over when I drone on about Japan. Next time you stop in Uwajimaya, ask a clerk to show you Japanese snacks that accompany
drinking. Uwaji's has a modest selection.

Jonathan, you have anything to add here?

"and they were... fishy. Like fake-fishy, as if they had been flavored to be fishy. Crabs aren't naturally fishy"

I suspect these have been salted and dried. You are getting the whole crab...guts, feathers..the whole shebang. Hence the fishy taste. Normally, we North Americans eat our
crabs after they have been cooked
and their guts removed. I can see there is additional labeling on the back of the package. It would tell us more about ingredients, processing, etc.

"Charles M. ate most of the bag."

Kudos to Charles M. Here is a person who has demonstrated that rare ability to transcend cultural boundaries, and food is a major cultural boundary. Not many people can do that. I think people like Charles are remarkable. They can go anywhere.

Lastly, kudos to the person or people who initially recognized the writing was Japanese.

---Jensen

Yummy