I might have a rare case of missing the daily small things that can only be found in the Greater Area of Toronto, Canada (or the likes) as some snacks here in Japan don’t quite scratch my itch. I’m wondering if anyone’s tried to order from stores like Amazon Canada directly to Japan or if there’s some sort of proxy service that can help me buy things such as Lay’s Ketchup chips, Ruffles All Dressed chips, Coffee Crisps, Miss Vickies chips, Dill Pickle chips, and anything inherently Canadian that cannot be found on Amazon US (it seems like I can buy others like Doritos Nacho chips, Doritos Cool Ranch chips, Cheetos, etc so these flavours won’t be a problem to buy).
I’ve only gone to check the Costco in Kawasaki but it doesn’t seem to have even “basics” like Doritos Nacho flavour, just something called “Taco” (and it had Cheetos Barbeque flavour instead of the regular cheese flavour). Is there another place I seem to have missed in my search for a flavour of home? Or is there some sort of store around Tokyo where I can specifically get anything “North American” like from Takis chips to Jamaican Beef Patties and Poutine? Any suggestion would be super helpful as I’ll be living here for the foreseeable future and do want to scratch that itch for the taste of “home”.
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I’m Canadian and I’ve ordered Canadian snacks from Canadian Amazon to Japan. But, it’s expensive for the shipping IF the seller will ship international. Also, it took 6 months to arrive and the chips were a fine powder by the time I got them. Definitely wasn’t worth it imo. I’ve just gotten used to not eating Canadian food. The cravings will pass.
If you find a friend in the American navy, you can buy off the base. No idea how it works, but I heard it’s a thing.
Ps. Leafs suck.
I’ve ordered from Amazon US without issues. If you set the address to Japan, Amazon will tell you if the object can’t be shipped to you.
I will say, don’t go for the American versions. I needed Kraft Dinner, NEEDED IT, and ordered from Amazon.jp. It’s murrica flavoured. Something just isn’t right.
Honestly best idea is to do a care package exchange with someone from home. Send them Japanese snacks in exchange for home snacks.
Sometimes you’ll get lucky at Kando Coffee, Jupiter, Don Quixote, Aeon Liquor, or Seiyu (Wal Mart) with imported stuff.
Ha, Miss Vickies are legit.
The problem (IME) with chips is that if you bring them in checked baggage or airmail them, they expand in flight and burst, and if you sea-mail them, the ship’s vibrations grind them to dust
The “best” way is to just bring them back (or have someone bring them when visiting) in carry-on/checked baggage and transfer them to a ziplock bag as soon as you get home so they don’t go stale.
Not ideal, but it’ll do in a pinch
It doesn’t answer your question directly but I really like the Canadian chips at Costco. I forgot the name but they had dill flavor last time I was there. Really crunchy and flavorful. I just stopped buying them recently because of price and trying to lose some weight.
100% feel this.
I’ve bought the instant gravy packs and cheese curds from Loblaws and just packed them in checked luggage. Usually travel to Toronto in winter so the curds won’t spoil in the suitcases. While you may find instant powdered gravy in random import food shops you won’t get curds. A bit of a hassle, but homemade poutine is so worth jt.
Coffee crisp is easy too. Just get a box or two of them and have family airmail then. Or again, into checked baggage.
I’ve never tried bringing chips over though. Takes too much space and they’re just too fragile.
I have base access, and don’t mind getting something on my (monthly or so) trips to base. I know everything isn’t the same, but if there’s something ‘murican you’re itching for — let me know, and I can post it to ya.
When I get cravings super bad, sometimes I’ll look for a Canadian on r/snackexchange to exchange snacks with. You agree on a price and you can request specific things or just leave it up to them. So they’ll send you stuff from Canada and then you’ll send them snacks from Japan worth the equivalent. It’s never hard to find someone willing to trade since Japanese snacks are so popular.