Enjoy the things you can afford
Brand: Family Mart Cost: Gift Found at: Family Mart Oh no. It’s awful. Like, truly genuinely awful. I don’t know whose idea it was to put ume plum flavor on dried seaweed and market it as a fun snack to suck on but that person was wrong. These are not two flavors that belong... Continue Reading →
Brand: Tirol Cost: 45 yen Found at: Family Mart I don’t love cheesecake. Which is odd, because I have a massive sweet tooth and I love cheese. But cheesecake has just never quite won me over. It’s disconcertingly both moist and dry – and that vaguely creeps me out. This is not something... Continue Reading →
Brand: Rice Shop Stock Company Cost: 145 yen Found at: Family Mart Why do the snacks in Japan still contain whole, boiled chestnuts? It’s not autumn, chestnut season has passed, but still, I try to have a tasty treat and BAM – a chestnut: just sitting there, soggy and soft and smugly unnecessary. The... Continue Reading →
Brand: Taisho Medicine Cost: 157 yen Found at: Family Mart A biologist friend is doing research on seasonal effective disorder on fish. She told me about it over dinner – how the summer fish cluster together and socialize together in one tank, and the winter fish flee to their separate sides to avoid their... Continue Reading →
Brand: Yamasaki Cost: 100 yen Found At: Family Mart Sometimes, a girl needs custard in a pancake, and frankly, I don’t understand where all this judgment is coming from. There is nothing wrong with, now and then, selecting an aggressively saran-wrapped, vaguely worded, suspiciously unrefrigerated custard treat from the bottom shelf of a convenience store.... Continue Reading →
Brand: Famima Bakery Cost: 110 yen Found At: Family Mart The amount of effort required to make a melonpan is obscene. I know, I know. Here’s another West Coast liberal weighing in on a hot-button issue from a position of privilege, but I’ve watched the youtube video. I’ve seen the amount of sifting and creaming... Continue Reading →
Brand: Family Mart Sweets Cost: 130 yen Found At: Family Mart I do not feel comfortable attesting that there is any pumpkin in this – or that there is any pumpkin flavoring for that matter. I appreciate that the Family Mart is trying to put a festive twist on their pound cake and I’m... Continue Reading →
Brand: Esu Esu Medicine Cost: 324 yen Found At: Family Mart When Grandma sends you a birthday card with a middle-aged woman who is extremely pleased about getting carded, you know that it is time to step up your beauty routine. Clearly, I am not as young as I used to be and I need... Continue Reading →
Brand: Meiji Price: 100 yen Found At: Family Mart It is a generally accepted scientific fact that, once you start working with young kids, you inevitably put on weight. The extensive studies on the subject, helpfully summarized to me by my collogues, vary in their conclusions. Some find that the cause is professional, claiming that... Continue Reading →
Brand: Morinaga Price: 100 yen Found At: Family Mart I don’t get it. I’ve tried to get it. I’ve thought about it. I’ve reasoned through it. I’ve eaten several to see if I’ve missed something. I’ve tried to approach it logically, emotionally, scientifically, but to no avail. I’m sorry to say that I just don’t... Continue Reading →
The Little Food Blog 