{"id":64835,"date":"2026-04-08T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=64835"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:53:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T05:53:00","slug":"people-are-licking-nintendo-switch-game-cartridges-again-after-japanese-user-compares-taste-to-sakura-buds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/people-are-licking-nintendo-switch-game-cartridges-again-after-japanese-user-compares-taste-to-sakura-buds\/","title":{"rendered":"People are licking Nintendo Switch game cartridges again after Japanese user compares taste to\u00a0sakura\u00a0buds\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When the\u00a0<strong>Nintendo Switch<\/strong>\u00a0launched in 2017, a\u00a0strange\u00a0fad arose where people would\u00a0intentionally\u00a0lick the\u00a0console\u2019s\u00a0game cartridges\u00a0to\u00a0find out (the hard way) that they taste extremely bitter.\u00a0It seems enough years\u00a0have passed for people to\u00a0once again grow\u00a0curious about the taste of a cartridge, especially\u00a0following\u00a0a\u00a0Japanese user\u2019s\u00a0allegation that Nintendo Switch 2 cartridges taste\u00a0similar to\u00a0the\u00a0currently\u00a0in-season cherry blossom tree\u00a0buds.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u7236\u89aa\u304c\u300c\u685c\u306e\u65b0\u82bd\u7f8e\u5473\u3044\u304b\u3089\u304a\u524d\u3082\u98df\u3063\u3066\u307f\u300d\u3068\u304b\u8a00\u3044\u51fa\u3057\u305f\u304b\u3089\u98df\u3063\u3066\u307f\u305f<br>\u30ac\u30c1\u3067\u82e6\u3044\u3001\u30bf\u30f3\u30cb\u30f3\u9178\u30a2\u30eb\u30d6\u30df\u30f3\u304bSwitch\u306e\u30bd\u30d5\u30c8\u306e\u88cf\u306e\u5473\u304c\u3059\u308b <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wVkmfY3Tm8\">pic.twitter.com\/wVkmfY3Tm8<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u30c0\u30eb\u30bf\u30cb\u30a2\u30f3\u5965\u7fa9 (@D_tniann2236) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/D_tniann2236\/status\/2040713438054547810?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 5, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>My dad said,\u00a0\u201cCherry\u00a0blossom\u00a0tree\u00a0shoots\u00a0are delicious, you should try some!\u201d\u00a0so I gave them a\u00a0go, but they\u2019re\u00a0seriously bitter.\u00a0They taste like tannic acid\u00a0and\u00a0albumin or the back of a\u00a0Nintendo\u00a0Switch game cartridge.<\/em>\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Their curiosity piqued by the comparison, some users rushed off to find\u00a0a nearby Switch cartridge and put\u00a0it in their mouths.\u00a0The result is the same as it was years ago: with\u00a0tasters expressing extreme disgust\u00a0at the lingering bitter flavor\u00a0and people\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/vxh9q\/status\/2040764084568908177?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">warning others<\/a>\u00a0not to do the same.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u304a\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048\u3048<br>\u307e\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u305a\uff01\uff01\uff01\uff01<br>\u306b\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u304c\uff01\uff01\uff01\uff01<br>\u306b\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u3063\u304c\uff01\uff01\uff01\uff01\uff01 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6a9YcNuGs5\">https:\/\/t.co\/6a9YcNuGs5<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0emDetyZOR\">pic.twitter.com\/0emDetyZOR<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u306f\u3064\u306d\u3055\u3093 (@vxh9q) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/vxh9q\/status\/2040760587228172338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 5, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Disgusting!!!!!!!!! So freaking bitter!!!!!!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in March 2017, a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/2017\/3\/1\/14784140\/nintendo-switch-cartridges-taste-awful-psa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nintendo representative emailed Polygon<\/a>&nbsp;confirming fan theories&nbsp;that Switch cartridges were intentionally coated in a bitter substance to dissuade people&nbsp;(particularly&nbsp;children)&nbsp;from ingesting them.&nbsp;The substance in question,&nbsp;Denatonium Benzoate, is&nbsp;a&nbsp;non-toxic compound commonly used to&nbsp;discourage the ingestion of whatever it is applied to, which in this case are Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 cartridges.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given that\u00a0Denatonium Benzoate\u00a0is\u00a0manmade, there is no chance that cherry blossom tree shoots\u00a0contain\u00a0any trace of the substance\u00a0unless someone intentionally applies it to them.\u00a0Regardless, the shoots are still extremely bitter\u00a0and should probably stay off\u00a0the\u00a0menu should you come across\u00a0them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/final-fantasy-7-remakes-nintendo-switch-2-release-was-from-a-technical-standpoint-only-possible-with-game-key-cards-director-naoki-hamaguchi-explains-why\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Final Fantasy 7 Remake\u2019s Nintendo Switch 2 release was, from a technical standpoint, only possible with Game-key cards. Director Naoki Hamaguchi explains why<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/nintendo-switch-2-game-key-cards-not-eligible-for-preservation-by-japans-national-diet-library-officials-say\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nintendo Switch 2 game-key cards not eligible for preservation by Japan\u2019s National Diet Library, officials say<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It seems enough years have passed for people to once again grow curious about the taste of Nintendo Switch game cards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":64837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17,33],"class_list":["post-64835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news","tag-nintendo"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>People are licking Nintendo Switch game cartridges again after Japanese user compares taste to\u00a0sakura\u00a0buds\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It seems enough years have passed for people to once again grow curious about the taste of Nintendo Switch game cards.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/people-are-licking-nintendo-switch-game-cartridges-again-after-japanese-user-compares-taste-to-sakura-buds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"People are licking Nintendo Switch game cartridges again after Japanese user compares taste to\u00a0sakura\u00a0buds\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It seems enough years have passed for people to once again grow curious about the taste of Nintendo Switch game cards.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/people-are-licking-nintendo-switch-game-cartridges-again-after-japanese-user-compares-taste-to-sakura-buds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-08T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260408-64835-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1436\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"807\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"People are licking Nintendo Switch game cartridges again after Japanese user compares taste to\u00a0sakura\u00a0buds\u00a0 - 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