What “western food” is within supermarkets

15 comments

1. greek yogurt, pasta, milk, and cereal are in stock at most if not all grocery stores in japan

2. Pasta, milk, yogurt.. these are all fairly universal foods. It may not all be what you are used to, and it may taste slightly different, but you’ll see plenty of familiar stuff.

   Also who told you you need to import Milo? Amazon exists here as well.

   And, while you can get by on “Western” foods, perhaps be willing to try something new. Your post sort of reminds me of the Japanese tourists who insist on bringing a rice cooker and rice to whichever overseas vacation spot they frequent.

3. Everything you listed is common daily food in Japanese households.

4. Yes, even my old and crappy local grocery store have those.

   Pasta: 100~300y
   Greeek Yogurt: 400y

   Milk: 100~300

   and you can find Milo in stores like 　ドン・キホーテ

5. Even my local conbini has Greek yogurt, milk, pasta, and cereal. All pretty common.

6. > milk(? strange to ask but I know Asians do not like to drink it)

   okay calm down there bud.

7. Aeon’s really good for foreign food, I’m noticing a lot more imports and foreign foods made by their home brand (Top Value) lately

8. Western style salt cured bacon is pretty uncommon. There is hardly any whole wheat bread. Black beans and pinto beans are impossible to find outside of international grocery stores. There is no also no ranch dressing. That’s all I can think of off the top of my head.

9. Who told you you need to import Milo?

   I’ve seen that in basically every supermarket.

10. If you can’t find a certain type of “western” ingredient in the supermarket, you can always ask the staff.

    I’m not fluent in Japanese, so I usually get photos of the food or use google translate. I’d show it to the staff and say “kore wa arimasuka?” (the simplest way I know how to ask).

    If they have it or something like it, they’ll guide you to the aisle. If not, they’ll say something like “gomenasai, ima wa (something something) arimasen” It’s usually a long explanation that my unskilled ear just blurs out.

11. Nagano ken here. Milo seems to be in all my nearby supermarkets, if you don’t want to use Amazon. I can even buy Tim Tams here if I want. You will be ok. Hakuba is pretty international so they will cater to the gaijin community at least a little bit.

    Also. Check out Tsuruya Supa, if you have one nearby. They are a Nagano only supermarket. I find their quality pretty high and they have a decent selection of imported foods. Even in my small city.

    The Greek yoghurt here doesn’t hit the same for me though. Still searching for one I like.

    I’d recommend finding your closest couple of supermarkets and just go for a look. It’s kind of fun. They have great bento sections and the tsukemono section is my idea of heaven. Have some fun and experiment with your cooking. It’s two months, what have you got to lose. Worst that happens is you waste a bit of money and have to go to a combini for dinner if you fail. Good luck.

12. Are you going to be a seasonal worker or just staying it in Winter?

    There are three major grocery stores in Hakuba village. A-Coop, The Big, and Delicia. You won’t have stores other people mentions except for konbini.

    A-Coop is located at near Hakuba station, The Big is 1km south from A-Coop, Delicia is 700m north.

    There are few drug stores which also sell foods. Matsumoto Kiyoshi near A-Coop and “American Drug”(It’s the drug store’s name) near The Big.

    If you’re going to stay near Happo-One, it’s 2km apart from A-Coop. The road is straight and snow-melting heater is on so you can walk if you have a time. If it’s spring, you can use a bicycle if you have one.

    If you’re going to stay near any other ski resorts, you need a vehicle to visit these stores. Or taxi which costs like 2000 yen for one way.

    Yes, there are Greek yogurt, pasta, milk, cereals, and Milo in these stores. We do drink milks and these stores sell Milo. Where did you get that idea?

    Since I’m a Japanese, I don’t know what else you want. Just ask me.

    One thing you westerners often complain about is, you can’t get a real hard bread. There are breads that looks like it, but it’s too softer than what Europeans are taking it for granted in their home country. We Japanese prefer soft bread so we do everything to make it soft.

    I’m going to stay in Hakuba for a whole winter season so if you are skiing or snowboarding, we may meet in the mountain.

13. Look around for import stores like Jupiter or Kaldi, which can be found in malls. There’s also the ‘general person restaurant supply’ stores like 業務スーパー that carry a ton of foreign food at pretty decent prices.

    For the most part, I pick up any import food as ‘comfort’ food, or to get out of the Japanese flavor circle a bit. But most of my food is either Japanese. If you start learning everyday Japanese food, it’s pretty easy living and quite cheap.

14. Greek yogurt is kind of expensive in Japan and not easy to find this kind of. It’s easier to find skyr or natural one

15. Love that you’re going to Hakuba specifically and then talk about “Asians”. Well done little yobo brother.