Supermarket Discounts

This newsletter is not focused on budget Japan travel, but when I think of something useful to save you money, I’ll post it here. This is one of those tips. Remote workers and digital nomads who are spending a longer time in Japan may find this tip more useful, but it can be used by anyone.

In Japan, you will quickly notice the incredible quality and freshness of the food. Japanese people place a high value on this. It doesn’t matter if it’s an onigiri from 7-11, a bento from a corner shop, or a 5-course meal at a Michelin Star restaurant. Japanese people want fresh, high-quality food.

Consequently, supermarkets (and bento shops) will substantially discount any pre-made food they haven’t sold by a certain time in the evening. The food is still ridiculously fresh and delicious. This is not like the food in the US that is in a corner on a special discount shelf because it has gone past its sell-by date. This is fresh food made earlier the same day, but because it’s past a certain time during that same day they want to sell it fast. Unlike in America, no Japanese store will sell pre-made food from the day before.

The discounts range from 20% up to 70%. There isn’t a countrywide set time for the discounts. Every market decides what time this discount occurs. It could be 7:30 pm, 8 pm, or another time (I’ve seen it as early as 6 pm before in some places). 

A wide selection of pre-made food will be discounted. Sushi, sashimi, tempura, fried shrimp, donburi bowls, yakitori skewers, fried meat skewers, potato salad, fried rice bowls, yakisoba bowls, karaage, and anything else pre-made. So many options. 

The best things will be scooped up quickly by locals in the know. When you see a grandma standing near the pre-made sushi section just waiting, you’ll know it’s almost time for the store worker to come by and put discount stickers on the food. You can’t grab food in advance before the discount time and hold it until the time for the discount strikes. You have to wait for it to get stickered first. This is a great way to get a bunch of inexpensive and delicious food for dinner. 

Japanese Address System

Many years ago, on my first visit to Japan, before GPS was everywhere. I had a famous guidebook in my possession. It had the address of a restaurant I wanted to try in Tokyo. I found the street this restaurant was on because it was on a large “named” street (many Japanese streets don’t have names). So far, so good. I then found the address that numerically, sequentially, would have been next door to the place I was looking for, but the restaurant wasn’t there. Confusion ensued.

I asked for help from workers in a convenience store and they all said they had no idea where this place was. More confusion ensued. My brain was breaking because how could you not be able to find an address if you knew the street and building number? Ok, even I could see the numbers were not sequential, but certainly a local who knew the system could understand and easily point me in the right direction. That was not the case. Eventually, I got lucky and asked the right person, who showed me where the restaurant was, and everything was right in the world again.

Japanese Addresses appear to have no rhyme or reason to the Westerner, but there is a system. It’s just different from what you’re familiar with. As I mentioned in my story, only some streets have names, and the numbers of neighboring buildings are not sequential.

Now that everyone has a GPS in their pocket this isn’t as much of an issue. Just download the maps to whatever cities you’re visiting in advance so you can access them offline and you should be fine. 

But if you want to understand how Japanese addresses work (it’s good to know), check out Derek Sivers’ excellent explanation. It’s interesting, I promise.

To go deeper and read about the cities with different address systems (Kyoto, Sapporo, and Oita) click here. 

Karaage (Fried Chicken)

This is about how delicious and ubiquitous fried chicken is in Japan. 

Karaage is a frying technique introduced to Japan via China where foods ranging from tofu, to chicken, to cartilage, to other meats and fish are marinated, then deep fried. However, the word karaage is now generally used to refer to fried chicken. You will find karaage in nearly every izakaya you step foot in. And it is damn good. Golden brown, crispy, juicy, and perfect with an ice-cold Asahi beer.  

For karaage, thigh-meat is preferred for its flavor and juiciness. Random fact: chicken breast is not considered a desirable cut in Japan as it is so dry and relatively flavorless. —So, if you want cheap protein from a convenience store or market, buy some chicken breast. It will be cheaper per pound than the thighs. You can find it pre-cooked at markets and conbini.

In addition to the karaage you will find at most izakaya, you can also get nankotsu karaage which is chicken cartilage coated and fried. Crunchy. Not for everyone, but I like it.

Nagoya is known for fried chicken wings, tebasaki. The two most famous tebasaki restaurants are Furaibo and Sekai no Yamachan (usually shortened to Yamachan).

Also, karaage is not like tempura, which uses a batter before frying and is not marinated. Tempura is amazing, of course, and not to be missed, but that’s a story for another time.

Even Anthony Bourdain had a strong affinity for karaage:

'I'm addicted to these deep-fried chicken cutlets, specifically the ones from Lawson convenience stores in Japan. It makes no sense. It's a guilty pleasure. I know exactly where to find a Lawson in Narita International Airport, and I never get on the plane without loading up on these bad boys.'

With almost 50 karaage shops, this small Japanese city just might be the fried chicken capital of the world.

I think it’s time for lunch.