My friend Aaron pointed out The Foreign Buyers’ Club which is an online store that imports lots of western food stuffs to Japan. For those of you that are missing some particular food from home you or you need something for a recipe you can’t find here you should check it out. Of course you have to pay shipping but it’s probably not has high as traveling around Tokyo, paying train and subway fares, trying to find the thing you are looking for.
The Foreign Buyers’ Club2 comments to The Foreign Buyers’ Club |
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Everything here is © me except those things which are not. |
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I specifically chose to live in Minami Azabu mainly to be close to the National Azabu supermarket there. They are the best in Japan, AFAIK, though meidi-ya isn’t that far behind. Ironically, with the rather high rent there I found it hard to visit the store more than once a month. Still, it was nice just knowing “hon-mono” comfort food was just around the corner.
These days Walmart has bought Seiyu and Costco is in Chiba and Fukuoka so I guess there’s more options. FBC kind of sucks because you generally have to buy by the case, and orders take a month or two.
I live in Fukuoka, and the Costco stocks mainly Japanese foodstuffs in bulk. It still has some exotic items for Japan, but it’s nowhere near the place to satisfy my American tastes that I had expected.
FBC has come a *long* way in the four years I’ve been in Japan. They now have an express airmail option (shipping costs ten bucks or so) and an additional catalog you can order single items from. Check out the website, you might be surprised.
Oddly enough, though, I find that I don’t miss as many foods as I did a couple years ago. Must be actually getting used to the country or something.
–Rick