Everyday Shopping & Eating in Tokyo

So this is just a random collection of items....no deep or intellectual ramblings, just observations on how living in a foreign city is different/unexpected from the US.  Some of this may be the difference between being in a big city versus a large town....but either way, this is the stuff they don't include in the guidebooks!

Signs to help you find your way!

People walk on the left side of the sidewalk/stairs/hallway here....except for when they don't.  I've noticed in countries that have cars driving on the left (like Japan), people walk on the left.  And they do that most of the time, but every once and awhile you run across a sign directing you to walk on the right.  We think it deals with the flow of traffic (through a busy subway station), but it doesn't always seem to make sense.  Either way, tourists are easy to recognize because they're usually fighting their (wrong) way through crowds of people.  

After eight months of living here, I'm finally picking up the habit of looking to the right first, before crossing the street.

I miss you!

Though having international grocery stores (and Costco) help to find food items common in the US, you can't get everything here - I searched all over for egg whites (in a carton) and all purpose flour.  I came to the conclusion that prepackaged egg whites are just not "fresh" enough for the market here.  I have better luck with all purpose flour.  I'm able to buy bread flour and cake flour, then mix them in a 1:1 ratio.  This apparently makes all purpose flour!  I don't know if it's identical, but it works well for baking scones.

Other items that are hard to find - women's shaving cream and stick deodorants.  Japanese women shave their legs (and their arms, too?), but I cannot find any shaving cream marketed to them - just men.  I end up buying a neutral smelling shaving cream, and it's fine.  I haven't asked anyone, but I don't know what women use here.  Maybe just soap, because there's no items with the women's razors at the store.  I've also only found spray deodorants and little bitty (1-inch diameter) roll on deodorants for women.  Luckily I came prepared for this when we moved to Japan, and brought a bunch of stick deodorants with me!

My $10 bottle of rubbing alcohol

You won't be creating your own cleaning items here.  It's next to impossible to find white vinegar, and most people have never heard of it (or try to direct you to the white wine vinegar).  Luckily Costco finally came through and had a big jug of it.  Otherwise I can only find a small bottle at the Precce supermarket at Tokyo Midtown.  In a related note, rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide (called oxydol here) can be found, but are very expensive.  My bottle of rubbing alcohol cost $10.  However, baking soda is at almost all grocery stores.

There are other items that you can find, but are much more expensive here.  My best example is of a clock radio.  I didn't bring mine from the US because I was worried it wouldn't keep time correctly with the different voltage in Japan.  I wanted one that uses LED lights so I can see it during the night without having to push a button.  I search many different stores (both physical and online), and I have to spend over $60, and they don't have a radio, either. (I don't really care about the radio, but it is recommended to have one to receive information during a natural disaster.  I end up spending $10 on the cheapest radio I can find - but it doesn't have a clock).  It's been a long time since I bought a clock radio, so maybe they've gone up in price?  So I check amazon.com for US prices - yes, you can buy an LED clock radio for $12.  Finally after more searching I found one for $40 and bought it (thank you, Tokyu Hands).  Obviously, China is not allowed to ship cheap electronics here.

After a long search, I finally found my (still expensive) LED clock.  Unfortunately, it's so bright at night, I have to cover it with paper so it doesn't wake me up.  I can still read the numbers when it's dark!

 
Speaking of expensive, it costs more to buy items in the city than in the suburbs - everything from groceries, cleaning products, drug store items, and plants.  I would have thought the city had more competition (and less transportation costs - doesn't it have to be brought to the city and then distributed?), but apparently in the city you're a captive audience.  When I've traveled about half an hour from central Tokyo I've found prices (for the exact same thing) to be 25-30% cheaper.

You need to be careful when using the ATM, too (well, at least if you have a Japan bank card).  They charge ATM fees based on the hour of your withdrawal, not just the day.  The chart explaining the different fees took half a page - basically, you wouldn't want to use the ATM outside of regular banking hours.  But isn't that kind of the point of the ATM??  So the fee is higher at night, on the weekends, and at lunch hour.  The only explanation I have for this is they are concerned about the ATM running out of money, so they want it used when they can replenish it if necessary.  Luckily if you keep a high enough balance in your account the fee is waived.  

Lots of foam - very fresh!

Buying alcohol in a restaurant is more expensive than you think.  Beer is served with a lot of foam (almost 1/3 of the glass).  I've read that they feel it indicates freshness, and they'll purposely add foam to the glass.  But it's usually a small glass, so you spend $5 for maybe six ounces of a draft beer.  Wine is also served in similar small portions - you usually get four ounces or less.  Some restaurants do have special "all you can drink" options, but you usually have a time limit.  In fact, that's very common with almost every buffet or "all you can eat" food option (or a very popular restaurant).  They have a time limit and at the end of your time you have to leave the table.  I understand why - it's very common to see people sitting in a casual restaurant for a few hours with just a cup in front of them (similar to what people do in Starbucks).  I think because people's houses are very small in Tokyo they tend to stay in public places often. 

My Mexican wine!

Buying liquor at a store is actually less expensive in Japan than the US!  We think it's due to less taxes.  However, beer is still expensive - Japanese beer is taxed heavily by the government (You might think you're getting a deal if you see a lower price, but it's probably because the beer is a lower alcohol content.  The Japanese government taxes beer at a certain alcohol level, so the companies respond by coming out with a new beer with a lower the alcohol content.  Then the government starts taxes at a lower level.  So the beer companies lower...you get the idea.  But there's about four different "levels" of alcohol content of each beer.)  Wine also tends to be expensive.  It's shipped a long way, plus there's taxes.  Chilean wine isn't too expensive, though - apparently there's a trade agreement.  You can also find a lot of French wine - it's pretty popular in Japan.  So far we haven't had a lot of luck with finding good, relatively inexpensive wine (less than $20/bottle).  However, I do like a $7 bottle of Mexican sparkling wine!  (Did you know Mexico made wine?  I didn't!)  Otherwise, it's $50 to find a wine that tastes good...luckily we still have the wine we shipped with us and the New Zealand cases!

You don't get to have it "your way" in the restaurant - they serve it one way, and that's it.  So your salad only comes with the one dressing they serve, and you can't get it on the side.  And I have yet to figure out how to get a cheeseburger with only mayonnaise and onions at McDonalds (okay, I've only gone in twice since I've been here).  If I try to order it that way they just look at me funny, so I end up with everything on it (but no mayo).  The chefs do work with you if you have allergies, though!

Good luck finding a trash can, paper towels, or napkins in public.  For a city so clean, I'm amazed at how few trash cans you see.  Right beside the (thousands) of vending machines you usually have a place to recycle your plastic bottle (because you're supposed to drink it right there, not walk around with it).  But if you have a scrap piece of paper you want to throw away, there's no place to put it.  In bathrooms you occasionally see paper towels at the US fast food restaurants (Starbucks or McDonalds), but that's usually the only locations.  I see more hand dryers now than I did when visiting in 2011, but it's still not common (more in nice department stores and tourist locations).  That's why people carry around their own personal washcloth to dry their hands.  They're easy to find in different shops and make a fun souvenir.  Napkins are not normally in restaurants.  You receive an oshibori when you sit down - a small, damp, rolled hand towel (or something like a large wet wipe in a casual restaurant). This is used to wipe off your hands at the start of your meal.  It's also okay to use on your hands during the meal, though you're not supposed to use it on your face.  I haven't figured out the "polite" way to wipe your mouth in public.  At the store, you might find decorative napkins - what you would use for a party.  But no square paper napkins for daily use.  Costco came through for me at the end, and I finally found paper napkins to have at the apartment.

That about sums it up for now!