So we’ve just survived the landmine that is the Japanese supermarket. What started out as an innocent trip to fill the cupboards became a mass of confusion and guess work. To be honest, it all started to go slightly pear shaped the minute we talked through the doors.
1) Apparently trolleys don’t exist in Tokyo. What they do have are plastic baskets and strange looking metal frames that they sit on. Think new born baby in a pram.
2) Everything is in Japanese so you buy what you think is ready cooked chicken and it actually turns out to be some breaded octopus/unknown creature of the sea thing.
3) Rather than having store speakers attached to the the walls like ‘normal’ supermarkets they had early 00’s boom boxes scattered randomly through the shop. I don’t know what it was playing but it was J-pop magic.
4) We almost miss took tomato juice for cordial…
To be fair we survived the crowds and confused looks from the Japanese pensioners and made it to the till in record time. Actually having fun in the process. We’re still not 100% sure what we bought but if it’s being sold in the supermarket it must be edible, right?
Reluctant Wanderer 