Enjoy the things you can afford
Brand: Yamandai Cost: 110 yen Found At: Yamadai I once listened to a great courses lecture on the history of food and learned significantly less than I should have. There were a lot of names and empires and discussions of roux – whatever that is. The only useful bit of information that my memory grabbed... Continue Reading →
Brand: Family Mart Cost: 119 yen Found At: Family Mart Chirashi sushi literally translates as “scattered sushi,” but I think a Bellingham restaurant translated it best as “kitchen sink” sushi. Basically, it’s a bed of sushi rice, covered with everything but the kitchen sink. I like it because it is often the cheapest of the... Continue Reading →
Brand: Yamazaki Cost: 129 yen Found At: Family Mart THE STRAWBERRIES ARE BACK! The hardest part of the long, hot summer and the short, temperamental autumn was the absence of one of my favorite desserts in Japan: the strawberry mochi. Much like the chestnut mochi, this is just a regular mochi (red bean paste in... Continue Reading →
Brand: Uchi Café and Godiva Cost: 324 yen Found At: 7-11 “The Japanese diet is so healthy!” they said. “Japanese people are thin because they eat so well!” They told me. And then I showed up and I swear that this country is actively trying to give me diabetes. The sweets are the sweetest and... Continue Reading →
Brand: Family Mart Cost: 195 yen Found At: Family Mart This onigiri talks a big game. It’s from the Family Mart’s “man food” line – a randomly curated collection of ready-meals that seem to assume that women do not like meat. This one seems to have made the cut because of its extreme spiciness –... Continue Reading →
Brand: Ishiya Co., Ltd. Cost: 700 yen for 12 cookies Found at: Break Room (from Hokkaido) The problem with the jump between Japanese and English is not the grammar, not the vocabulary, not even the overflow of verb structures on either side of the divide. The issue, it seems, is that of the utter failure... Continue Reading →
Brand: Nestle Cost: Travel Souvenier Found by: Coworker Liz Chocolate is amazing. Apple is amazing. Chocolate apple is unpalatable. It is very, very rare that I do not finish something that I started eating. It’s a matter of some personal pride that I can get through anything. But half-way through this small chocolate and... Continue Reading →
Brand: Yaokin Cost: 54 yen Found At: Daiso When I was in middle school, one of the most popular ways to pass the time was to discuss “dream guys.” Never mind that our idea of romance came from 90s rom-coms that we would later disavow - or that in a few years many of them... Continue Reading →
Brand: Meiji Cost: 54 yen Found At: Daiso There is something about being human that compels us to seek out a clan. From the profound to the mundane, we will identify ourselves with just about anything – neighborhoods, sports teams, TV shows, toilet paper hanging techniques, dietary restrictions – if there is something that will... Continue Reading →
