Request - shopping for food in Japan - what does it cost?

[lasagna47]

the camera movements made me dizzy~ anyways, really expensive.

still, like to go to japan someday~and try all the wonderful foods!

[visualvirtue]

@JAWZxz Sure he can do what he wants and he's doing it, duh! And I can say what I want and you can mind everyone's business like you want. Ha!

[JAWZxz]

@visualvirtue Wreck himself? He's hardly wrecking himself you self-satisfied twat, and even if he was, it's his body and he can do what he wants with it.

[KarinaU212]

I think it is absolutely disgusting how westernized the Japanese diet has become. As recently as 60-70 years ago, you would not have found more than half of the food in Japanese stores that you have there. America is making Japan unhealthy.

[JAWZxz]

@KarinaU212 Yeah, the Americans are totally forcing the Japanese to eat their food, that makes no sense.

[akush55]

as of today market that was about 99 bucks .

[visualvirtue]

You've got a poor diet. Take better care of yourself!

[heats1]

@visualvirtue shut up

[animefreak1467]

wow the prices really weren't that high, or higher than it is here in the us.

-though now that the dollar is extremely weak...only about 80-85 yen per dollar

[trendy76]

i dunno if anyone has asked this but do they have dollar stores like they have here in the western society?

[TaishaJason]

@trendy76 Japan has the best 100yen ($1) stores on the planet. They have tons of great stuff - most JETs furnish their kitchen and parts of their apartment exclusively from the 100yen shop.

[archykins]

i dont know if youve done this yet because i am fairly new and havent seen all of your vids yet :3 buuuut what kind of stores do they have in their malls? :o do they have ones like us? such as stitches, american eagle, dollar giant, the gap, peoples jewellers etc? same places? or different? :o

[TaishaJason]

@archykins well, they often don't have a "mall" at all in some of the rural places I've lived. When they do, it's the same mix of clothing stores and shoe shops and a book store, etc, with eating and maybe an arcade with Japanese games and purikura. The don't really have American stores like The Gap unless you're in Osaka or Tokyo or some bigger city, but they have the Japanese equivalent, like UniQlo.

[animefreak1467]

@TaishaJason they have UniQlo in NYC too. :D do you notice different current styles than the US? in the younger or older generations?

[TaishaJason]

@Zakiuz101 you're welcome - thanks for watching!

[shinmei2006]

i drank alot of muscat tea and melon soda...two of my favorite "hard to get drinks back home" in japan lol...

Muscat is actually another name for muscadine grapes, a delicious variety that has a thicker skin that you don't usually eat (as its bitter) and the inside of the grape is a bitter tougher than the normal table grapes most everyone in the states is used to

[TaishaJason]

thanks for the info :)

[Ido013]

That did pretty much answer my question too thanks~!

[patio87]

Budo also mean Japanse Martial arts, just FYI, lol.

[rokkowoods]

Did you do 5 years on Jet? When I did it a 5 year contract was not available. I wanted to stay 5. The conditions are so good on the Jet programme.

[TaishaJason]

yeah - they changed the rule in 2007 and a few people are allowed to stay 5 years. 3 years is still the regular maximum.

[TaishaJason]

I'm not sure what you mean - a British company that makes teabags - like Tetley - or a kind of British tea, like Earl Grey? They have all kinds of tea in Japan, and lots of import tea too.

[MrEbm14]

razor blade and cereal = Yippie!!!! :) I would have to buy the American brand.

[JJuliet]

OMG!!- Thank You So Much for making this video. i'am still trying to wrap my mind on how far can the Yen take you when it comes to shopping.

the way you explained it i understand now.

but

******* I Have A REQUEST !! *************

******************************­****************

could you possibly in your future vlogs explain to us how dining out at a restaurants works when it comes to ordering & paying & perhaps explaining the receipt & what exactly is the paying etiquette?

good vid!

[TaishaJason]

Sure - I'll think about it - but I guess it would be a better vlog for when I return to Japan next March and I can actually go to a restaurant and film.

[missvinca]

Maybe later in the future can you make a video about a rough estimate of your monthly bills? Rent, bills (phone, internet) food, entertainment all that stuff. It would be very helpful thaanks~ :3

[TaishaJason]

I did that on my main channel - Myargoanuts - link on this channel page.

On the Myargonauts channel page, click on the playlist of Becoming an ALT and I think the money one is about #4 or so.

[drhikarisan]

:[ ] 500 yen for that tiny block of cheese?

I'm not much of a cheese person so I think I'll do without for that.

I am very surprised about the expensive fruit though.  I thought that the Japanese loved to eat fruit and ate it as a desert instead of something like cake...so I expected it to be a bit cheaper.

[TaishaJason]

much of the fruit here is either imported or grown by domestic farmers who benefit from the inflated prices, so yeah, fruit is expensive.

[dirtyjoe91]

Is food taxed in japan?

[TaishaJason]

I;m sure it is in some way, but the price you see on an item is the price you pay at the register - no sales tax is added on.

[drhikarisan]

I believe there is a 5% consumption tax on everything. I'm not sure if that is in place of the sales tax or if there is a sales tax as well.

[SpinningBirdKick1]

Lol, I know what youre talking about the cheese.

My brother was once going to make dinner for his Japanese inlaws, and he had to go to a hyaku en kombini and buy like 10 of those very small blocks of cheese.

[StatuesBleedingGreen]

Thanks alot for the video. I was wondering about this kind of thing today and just happend to find this video.

[redmonkey009]

i can not wait till i go its going to be so awesome

[Cronaldo02]

wow, id spend less buying in japan then here in calgary.

[HardGaySuperFan]

The prices seem to be about the same where I am. I love seeing food from other countries so I enjoyed this video.

[yesiamanalien]

Damn, it's actually a bit cheaper to live in Japan than where I live in California. That's insane!

[TaishaJason]

haha - well, I do live way out in the countryside, so I'm sure some of my cost of living expenses are cheaper than if I lived in Tokyo or Osaka.

[terriberri0928]

Great Video! Loving the Obama shirt. I have the same one!!!

[TaishaJason]

cool - thanks! Yeah - it's a great shirt!

[42317]

I'm a major sucker for cheese, but I avoided it in Japan due to the price. We made dinner ourselves only half of the time because eating out - Ramen, Yakiniku, Tonkatsu - was actually cheaper.

Do you actually buy rice? You've never mentioned a rice cooker (Suihanki), if I remember correctly. That's what we ate every morning, rice with Furikake. I also added mayonnaise. Cheap and tasty.

[TaishaJason]

I do have a rice cooker, and I used it a lot my first year here, but I rarely use it now. I have rice so often as part of my school lunches that I don't cook it at home very much anymore.

[ensortion]

I looked up nabe after watching this vid.......mouth is watering just thinking of it.....hmmmmm, maybe I should go eat? O_o lol

[TaishaJason]

yeah - nabe is the good stufffffff!!!

[denialofinsanity]

I find all of this information really helpful. I want to become an English teacher there, if that doesn't work out I might teach it in Brazil.

[TaishaJason]

cool - thanks for watching.

[shildrine]

For those of you who didnt know, 100 yen(Japanese money) is about 1 American Dollar. Though it goes up from 125 yen to a dollar, and down to 95 yen per dollar. But generally, its around $1.00 = 100¥

(You can make the Yen sign by pressing Alt + 02213 on you number pad. that will make ¥) Hope That Helped =)

[shildrine]

For those of you who dont know, 100 Yen = about 1 American Dollar. so 1 dollar is 100 yen. 2 dollars = 200 yen, $3.00 = 300¥  =) hope that helped.

[kwech]

rocking the Alex Ross shirt - sweet!

[TaishaJason]

oh yeah!! :)

[SchoolhouseTechno]

Nabe...that's like where you cook stuff in one big pot right? I love those kinds of dishes...they usually end up so rich and delicious.

[FrozenxXxFlame]

Ouch! $5 on the small chesse, :P must be delicious.

[SchoolhouseTechno]

cheese is expensive...but when it's good...it's worth it...

[TaishaJason]

yeah - it's pretty good cheddar from New Zealand. It's a must for a few dishes I make.

[ToniShinobi]

Yea, usually Razors are the most expensive thing to buy on a grocery trip. I heard that when working for JET, or any company, they prefer clean shaven all the time. Are there any teachers that have a little facial hair, or do you sometimes go to work with fuzz?

[TaishaJason]

I only shave every other day, so on the 2nd day, after about 24hrs of growth, I do have stuble, but nothing unbecoming.

I do grow my beard/goatee from time to time, and as long as you can tell I'm growing something, I think it looks fine. Most of the male Japanese teachers on staff are clean shaven, but a few have small beards.

[grooveonchan]

Sorry to hear you were sick dude.

[TaishaJason]

going to the ermengency room with only your Japanese-English dictionary to aide you is no fun. I'm gonna vlog about it - kinda interesting.

[grooveonchan]

haha... I think they will get the "sick" part by the look on your face! Looking forward to the vid.

[grooveonchan]

Oh sorry, that sounded really bad... I wasn't referring to any face in your video, just what I was imagining from what you wrote! It's too late and I'm typing in my sleep... my heartiest appologies :)

[TheGreatMrWhite]

Hi Jason,

Great video for a question I didn't know needing answering, but I'm glad you covered it! Just as a follow up, are there any farmer's markets, fish markets of sorts to purchase from in Shimane? If so, is it cheaper or more expensive? Keep up with the videos and for reading the comments!

Cheers!

[h0kut3n]

does the winery next door give you any deals?

[TaishaJason]

they make very tasty Grape Juice, but I'm sure they have good deals on wine from time to time too.

[CharacterForming]

Interesting video. I think everything you bought would cost more here in Ireland.

[GoddessCarlie]

The "expensive" cheese is about the same as what we pay here in Australia - if you go 100Yen = $1

Overall I'd say, if you say 100=$1, the prices are either the same or cheaper than they are here in Australia, at least where I live.

Interesting video! I'd say Australia is more expensive, but with the dollar these days, it makes it cheaper for others comming here!

[MTassarion]

interesting!

btw, when you need specific ingredients. How do you know what you should get? Have you learned all the names of the various products in japanese? I know this other guy in yokohama and he thought he had bought some oil, but it turned out to be vinegar :P (he couldn't read the kanji)

[TaishaJason]

I know all the ladies that work in my local store now, so if I need help, they always help me, or I can ask them to read a label if I don't know the kanji and then I usually know the word.

[WhiteMatrix2006]

Always wondered about the grocery shopping you do. Thanks for the video buddy.

-Billy-

[readchomsky]

As always, excellent video!

We used to drink Kirin tea in China.

[Sprachers]

thanks very much for answering my question jason!

keep safe.

[slicksilver07]

wow i dont know about you but thats fairly cheap for weekly shoping or three time aweek shoping .....do you mind going to a game shop like ps3 game for prices and dvd??? or mail me to tell me?

[TaishaJason]

if you check out my Myargonauts channel, then you can watch a vlog where I visit my local DVD/anime store.