About a week ago, an odd post drifted across my feed on X, formerly Twitter. The accompanying photo showed a bottle of cola with peanuts packed tightly at the top, bobbing on the surface.

The Japanese text began, “Good morning, my Japanese friends.” It went on to ask whether people in Japan were familiar with this way to drink cola in the American South.

Apparently, it is called “Farmer’s Coke.”

According to the post, the Southern combination of Coca-Cola and salted peanuts dates back about a century and became popular because farmers could eat and drink it during fieldwork without first washing their hands.

The post drew a raft of responses in Japan. “Couldn’t be........

© The Asahi Shimbun