FOOD & COOKING
Do not fill up your suitcases with food from home, even if you dislike Japanese food! There are many ways to get your favourite foods here in Aichi, as it is Japan's most industrialised prefecture. Plus, as we keep trying to emphasize, you only have 2 suitcases!
You may have heard all kinds of scary stories about the predominance of raw food (often with tentacles), seaweed, fermented beans, etc... Well, as with all rumors, this is a fair mix of fact and fiction. Yes, you will probably be presented with a wide variety of raw fish, seafood and even meats coming from parts of the animals you didn't even know you could eat! As when you travel to any new place, be polite, try it (really, most things are delicious! or at least not awful) and if you know you don't like it or just cannot put it in your mouth without pulling a George Bush (he threw up all over the Japanese Prime Minister at a dinner reception a few years ago), then very politely let your hosts know that you don't like/eat this dish. Although you do run the risk of hurting somone's feelings, if you are polite, most people will understand completely and even laugh.
My personal advice, and this is coming from someone who never liked fish, is to try everything here once, because Japanese food is really wonderful and generally inoffensive (ie. not too spicy or sour or hot, etc..). Plus, Japan is very much a food-centered country. Most celebrations, festivals, parties, get-togethers, activities, and TV shows somehow involve eating. So, you may as well learn to like it!
When you are at your place, however, you can eat however and whatever you want! Going into a Japanese supermarket for the first time will be an eye-opening experience, what with all the fresh fish, squid and octopus lying around. But, once you get over the initial alarm (Where's the cereal? Where's the Spaghetteeos? Is this sugar or salt? What does all this kanji mean????) you will be able to find a lot of substitutes for the products you use back home.
- There are lots of fruits and vegetables and fresh meats (that you will recognise) for you to choose from. Selection in Aichi is really good, although the larger your area, the better your options.
- There are all kinds of fruits and veggies available canned and frozen as well. You can also get tuna and chicken in a can.
- You'll find white bread and rolls really easily. Whole-grain breads are out there, and you'll discover bakeries and such as you explore your town.
- Milk, cheese, yoghurt and ice cream are all becoming very popular in Japan, although few places have the low fat or skimmed dairy products you may be used to. Butter and margarine are slightly sugared here, I don't know why, but most JETs seem to like them. Mayonnaise comes in a squishy bottle and is yellow, but it is VERY popular in Japan (it goes on anything, kind of like ketchup in North America) and can be found anywhere.
- You can find corn and olive oil pretty much everywhere.
- Dried pastas are rather common, but the tomato sauces here are..well, strange. Not bad, but definitely different.
Ok, that should reassure you that you will find something in your local supermarket to eat during your first few weeks. As time goes on you will become more confident and daring, even if you aren't really into cooking, as you are introduced to the endless number of Japanese dishes through parties and restaurants.
Of course, there are foods from home that you will miss terribly but that Japanese people don't usually eat and are consequently not in your local supermarkets. Well, luckily there are a few decent options here in Aichi that should get you most of the goodies you know and love (and crave!).
- Foreign Food Stores: The most famous one in Aichi is called 'My' (also known as Maruzen) and it is located in Sakae in Nagoya. This is also the location of the biggest foreign bookstore in Aichi, so you are almost guarranteed to run into a fellow JET every time you go. It has pretty much everything from everywhere. This means not only packaged food like Macaroni&Cheese or soups or caesar salad mix, but ingredients and staples from all over the world. Spices and seasonings you can't find in your local grocery stores. Mexican and East Indian ingredients and mixes. Pie shells, chocolate bars, hard cheddar and mozarella, spaghetti sauce or ingredients, alcohol from all over, coffee and tea, and on and on and on....
'My' is pretty expensive, however, so be prepared to pay for these 'exotic' foods. Keep you eyes open as you explore your areas and ask other JETs and AETs in your area if they have found other places to get what you're looking for. I've found places in Toyokawa, Toyota and Okazaki that stock everything 'My' does and more, for MUCH less. There ARE places near you, just stay alert!
- Mail Order: The most known mail order store is The Foreign Buyers Club, which is based in Kobe but delivers right to you door within a week, a little more if it's refrigerated stuff. They have EVERYTHING. You can find them on the Web, but they'll also have info in Tokyo for you to pick up. The nice thing about this company is that it is based in Japan, so you only pay to ship stuff across Japan, not internationally.
- Stuff from Home: Care packages are great to get and you can save the stamps to show your kinds at school! I've had one friend who had problems with some glass spaghetti sauce that was shipped by seamail (which takes 2 months) and by the time it got to her it had broken open and was rather, ahem, ripe. She was called into the post office and sternly reprimanded for sending food internationally (apparently you're not supposed to unless you are lisenced to) and she was very embarassed. So, I guess the lesson here is to make sure everything is packaged really well and won't spoil. Oh ya, don't send chocolate by seamail, it melts.
If you are a super-serious chef, you may want to bring a set of measuring spoons and cups from home, because measurements here are metric, so you may have difficulties making recipies that use the Imperial system. Or you can use a conversion chart, which is not so hard to get used to and takes up a lot less room!
Pots, baking pans, spatulas, etc.. are really high quality and pretty cheap here, so I wouldn't bother bringing these things. Do not bring appliances of any kind. You can find it all here for decent prices and your Japanese blender will probably be able to talk to you or wash your car or program a space shuttle as well as make smoothies.
You may want to bring spices or seasonings that you really like because they are more expensive here and some are not available at all. But, again, maybe wait and check out your area and 'My' and if you still really need them have someone send you some from home.
The one reason you may want to bring food is for omiyage, or gifts.
You can read more about this kind of thing in our 'Gifts' section. Just a quick reminder. It will be HOT HOT HOT in Tokyo, so don't bring anything that isn't really well sealed or can't take the heat and humidity. Also remember that you will have your suitcases packed full of stuff when you arrive, plus you will get a forest of papers and materials at Orientation, and you will have to carry all these things yourself on the bus, train, plane and/or boat to your new community. So, things that crumble, break or squish should be packed in something solid or maybe left for when friends and family come to visit you. Alcohol is always a good gift, if a little unoriginal, but bottles are heavy and, of course, can break.