Enjoy the things you can afford
Brand: Izusu Cost: 179 yen Found at: Yamadai The great lesson of my time studying abroad was realizing the benefits of being mistaken for a tourist. There are certain downsides. Every time I look at a subway map, for example, I find myself fighting off helpful grandfathers like I’m in an infrastructure-themed apocalypse film... Continue Reading →
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: 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: Tomidaya Cost: 198 yen Found At: Yamadai Today, I discovered that I am the Julia Child of pre-packaged food. Let me set the scene: I have just returned from the grocery store, having impulse bought a three-pack of fried, black bean mochi. But, I am horrified to discover, the grill marks are... Continue Reading →
Brand: Owashima Temple Price: 238 yen Found At: AEON Autumn tea sweets, I’ve been waiting for you. I just cannot get enough of sweet bean paste or pounded sweet rice in an autumn shape. I’m crazy for tea sweets anyway, but dye them red and shape them into an autumn leaf and I am in... Continue Reading →
Brand: Yamazaki Cost: 129 yen Found At: Mini Stop How do you “autumn up” an old classic? You stick a chestnut in it. And that’s it. They have stuck a cooked chestnut into the middle of a regular mochi and charged me extra for the privilege of feeling “seasonal.” Points for... Continue Reading →
Brand: Kuwana Specialty Products Cost: 260 yen Found At: Shinkansen Track Kiosk I had no idea that this mochi existed until my mother pointed to a billboard in Kumano Nachi Taisha and asked, “is that an advertisement for maxi pads?” Sure enough, the billboard featured two of these An’ei Era (1772-1781) Mochi cakes which looked... Continue Reading →
Brand: Ashiritsu Industrial Corporation Cost: 108 yen Found At: Ministop This dessert is a beautiful hockey-puck of delight. I have been told that mochi is not for everyone. Whether it is the gooey texture of pounded, sweet rice or the unfamiliar concept of a bean-based desert filling, it seems to be one of those things... Continue Reading →
