Japanese Supermarkets

Supermarkets in Japan are interesting creatures. Local ones close early- sometimes as early as 5 or 6- and the stores are often ruled by "time sales," in which certain items are discounted for a limited amount of time. It's a fundamentally different system than its American counterpart, but one that I feel can be more easily exploited. In essence, grocery shopping here is all about timing, and as a result, I always find myself keeping a few things in mind before I go:

-What do I need, exactly? (changes the most opportune time of day).
-Is it more than I can carry? (due to my car-less-ness here, I must be able to carry all that I purchase back to my apartment. Sometimes multiple trips to different stores are in order)
-How much am I willing to spend at one given time?

etc. etc.

The main rules are quite simple: earlier in the day is better for produce, later in the day is better for premade food, which often results in purchases that I have come to regret. Honestly, this country makes me question how much self-control I have every day- the food is just so good that even my daily running and exercise doesn't quite offset it. I suppose the truth is that I just have to be more conscious.

In any case, there are some items that are exceedingly hard to find. Some of these are obvious- vegetables like, say, parsnips, aren't going to be available. But the real difficulty is with other foods that seem like they should be similar, and just aren't. Peanut butter is a good example, rather than actual peanut butter, the stuff here is more like a sickeningly sweet peanut-flavored concoction. Tomato sauce might as well be ketchup for how sweet it is. These are things best found in either import stores (at greatly enlarged prices) or shipped, or purchased at a military base if you're lucky enough to have a method of access. Or made by one's self, as I've done with salsa a few times to feed a guacamole craving.

The other real differences are simplistic- produce aisles will often not have plastic bags for the vegetables and the like, and they go directly into the basket. Items are bagged by one's self, rather than a bag boy, and smaller quantities are purchased at one time for most- after all, this is close to Tokyo, so not all that many people have cars.

In any case, that's just a short explanation. Maybe interesting for someone who stumbles along here one day, who knows? I'm just curing boredom.