I bet you’ve heard Japan is an expensive country. In many ways it is, but not everything has to cost you an arm and a leg. In this article, I give some of my favorite tips to either save money in Japan, or to get more out of your money.

Get Cheap Airfare

I won’t go into this too much since saving on airfare is a general thing, not a Japan thing. If you’re looking for how to save on airfare, I’m sure there’s a ton of other articles out there. I will share a couple of tidbits from my own experience, however.

Delta and Air Canada have handy price grids showing the cost of the ticket a few days before and after the specific dates you search. The cost variation can be very significant. Knowing which days are cheaper is good info, even if you end up flying on another airline.

Also, I’ve found that airfare aggregation sites like Expedia, Priceline and Travelocity are good as a starting point for your search, but you’re usually able to get the same ticket for cheaper if you buy it directly from the airline.

Get a Good Exchange Rate

Japan is still largely a cash-based society, meaning your average restaurant or souvenir shop will not take a credit card; plan to use cash for almost everything. Worry not, though, since Japan is also probably the safest country in the world to walk around with a load of cash.

However, if possible (and if your credit card offers a fair exchange rate) it’s a good idea to pay for your lodging with your card. This is primarily because you will need cash for just about everything else.

The best way fill your wallet with yen in Japan is to exchange cash at the airport right after you arrive. There are ATMs at post offices and convenience stores that allow you to access cash, but you won’t beat the airport rate by more than a percent.

In the US, we have the perception that everything is a rip-off at airports, but in the case of Japan this is actually the most convenient and reasonable place to convert your currency. Check out the current rates you’ll get at Narita airport here: http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/exchange_e/ and if you want to have a good laugh, call your bank and ask them what rate you would get if you ordered JPY from them.

Weekly/Monthly Mansions

(Note: in Japan, the term “Mansion” (マンション) is synonymous with apartment. It certainly does NOT mean “big fancy estate with a butler, swimming pool and two tennis courts”)

There are companies that will rent living space on either a weekly or monthly basis, referred to as ウィークリーマンション or マンスリーマンション, respectively. Primarily, these companies cater to Japanese clients who are temporarily transferred to a job location that is too far from their home to commute. However, many of these companies will also rent rooms to foreigners if the foreigner in question either 1) displays adequate mastery of Japanese to be a signing party to a contract or 2) has a Japanese guarantor who will sign for them.

How much can you save here? Last year, I rented a “mansion” for 1 month (including Golden Week, a time when hotel prices often double or triple) in Nagoya for $1050, so basically $36/day (it was a very small one-room apartment). At that price, alternative options would include hostels, capsule hotels or very questionable business hotels. I’ll take the private apartment, please.

Another big bonus to weekly/monthly rentals is that they’re usually equipped with some basic equipment like a refrigerator, hot water pot, rice cooker, microwave and stove top. Many will rent extras such as bicycles upon request (I rented one for about $35).

If you’ve got the Japanese skills or a good Japanese friend to help you, here’s some sites to get you started:

• http://www.good-monthly.com/
• http://www.leopalace21.com/
• http://www.monthly-mansion.com/
• http://atinn.jp/ (this is where I rented from, because they specialize in Nagoya-area monthly/weekly rentals)

Rent a SIM Card or Portable Wi-fi

Depending on your carrier and plan, staying connected in a foreign country can cost a ton. But if you’re flexible, you can pull it off for a lot less than you might think.

For my trip last year, I took an unlocked Galaxy S3 and swapped in a rented SIM card from eConnect Japan. Naturally, while I was in Japan people couldn’t call me at my USA number, but I don’t get any meaningful phone calls anyway. The SIM card cost me $50 for 1 GB of data to use over 30 days. That’s plenty to do everything I usually do on the internet (email, a few Skype calls, Line, maps, web browsing, train searching), and the speed/connectivity is better than I was used to getting back home.

If you’ve got a phone that’s locked to your carrier or also need to use the internet on other devices, your best option will probably be a portable Wi-Fi point.

Japan Rail Pass

Many of you probably already know about the legendary Japan Rail Pass, but this article wouldn’t be complete without mentioning it, so here goes…

If you plan on leaving your arrival city in Japan, you should definitely look into the Japan rail pass. It gives you the freedom to get on and off of whatever JR trains you want (including the Hikari and Kodama bullet trains) at whatever stations you want. In other words, you get almost* free roam of Japan’s amazing rail system.

*: just note that it only works on trains which are operated by Japan Rail. That excludes many intra-city trains (especially subways, which are mostly city-run) and some off-the-beaten-path rural train lines.

It’s glorious freedom, a huge money saver, and hassle saver too since you just show your pass to the station attendant and they’ll let you through the wickets; very VIP treatment. You only ever need to line up to reserve a seat, which is a good idea for long trips or during busy hours, but in many cases you’ll have no problem finding an open seat even on the bullet trains.

Not convinced yet? Here’s some math: the JR pass costs approximately $550 for 3 weeks. If you go round-trip from Tokyo to Osaka twice, you’ve basically gotten your investment back.

Here’s the link to get you started: http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en003.html

Save on Food and Drink

Food might be the thing people underestimate the most when they plan their travel expenses for any country. This is especially true with Japan because everything is so goddamn delicious. Here’s some tips that I came up with to keep my food budget down, which served me well when I was actually living there but could also help out a tight-budgeted traveler:

1. Buy a jar of Nescafe instant coffee for your mornings. A typical Japanese mom-and-pop cafe charges $2-3 for a cup of coffee (it comes in one size: small) and you won’t get refills. And get it at a supermarket if you can, not a convenience store; the prices are usually very different.
2. Supermarket bento (boxed meals) are a great deal, and most supermarkets start discounting their bento 20-50% after a certain time, usually 7 or 8 o’clock at night. Find your nearest supermarket and figure out how to take advantage of this.
3. Onigiri (rice balls, usually with some kind of filling) are delicious, cheap and satisfying. The ones you get at convenience stores aren’t bad, but keep an eye out for an actual onigiri shop. A real onigiri is twice as large and three times as delicious as a convenience-store knockoff, and still usually costs less than 200 yen.
4. Inari sushi. If you have tried them in the US and didn’t like them, I urge you to try them again in Japan. Like onigiri, these are a low cost way to fill your stomach and can be addictively delicious if they’re made well (in Japan, they usually are).
5. Japanese instant noodles are on a whole different level compared to the garbage they peddle to us in the US. It’s almost insulting. Buy a Nissin noodle cup, try it, and cry uncontrollably when you discover just how delicious your college years could have been but weren’t.

Bring Back Stuff to Sell

Put your spare suitcase space to good use! Traveling to Japan means you get to bring some stuff back without paying for shipping. You have to do some research and shopping around, but it’s very possible to do things like buy a Nintendo 3DS in Japan for $100, bring it back and sell it on eBay for $150 (the 3DS is easy to sell because it is region-locked, so gamers need an imported one in order to play Japanese games). Japanese PS3/PS4 games are good for the opposite reason (because the hardware is NOT region-locked, the games can be played normally even on non-Japanese hardware).

Of course if you come home with 10 of the same device or game in your suitcase, there’s a chance that customs will look upon that suspiciously, so don’t overdo it. lol

Do you have any money tips for traveling in Japan? If so, feel free to leave a comment! ^^

And you probably won’t have time to try everything, either (I lived there for 4 and a half years and still didn’t try everything!). So I’m writing this blog post to help you make sure you have your bases covered.

I won’t bother recommending things like sushi that I know you’re going to eat anyway. This list includes 5 foods that I suspect people might overlook, but which should not be missed.

1. Curry Rice (カレーライス)

Beef-katsu curry with cheese. (Price range: 600-1000 JPY)

I never had curry (of any kind) before going to Japan. Yep, 22 wasted years; sad, isn’t it? If you try nothing else on this list while you are in Japan, you absolutely MUST try Japanese curry and rice.

It has a rich, bold flavor, completely unique from any Indian or Thai curry, and is hands-down the most comforting and satisfying food I have ever had the joy of experiencing.

While curry can be found at many different restaurants (the flavor is always slightly different), I prefer the feisty yet smooth curry at the chain restaurant Coco Ichibanya, where you can customize your curry with different amounts of rice, different spice levels (hint: start with a 2 or 3 max. anything over 4 is nuclear), and a wide variety of toppings.

Coco Ichibanyas also are generally equipped with an English menu (you might have to ask for it), so you have absolutely no excuse not to try it. NONE!

2. Unagi (鰻)

Price range: 800-1800 JPY

Unagi is eel, and is considered something of a luxury dish in Japan. It has a very soft consistency, and is glazed in what my limited gastronomical vocabulary can only describe as a kind of teriyaki sauce.

Unagi-don (unagi served on bowl of rice) is probably the most common way you’ll see it served, but it’s also great as sushi (even on sushi, unagi is still cooked and glazed).

And note, even if you’ve had unagi in your home country in an Asian restaurant somewhere, I encourage you to try it in Japan again. In my experience unagi outside of Japan is comparatively disappointing.

3. Ramen

Tonkotsu ramen (Price range: 600-900 JPY)

Miso Ramen (Price range: 600-900 JPY)

When I first got to Japan, I was surprised by how many young Japanese told me their favorite food was ramen. I thought, “Really? That cheap, flavorless noodle in a bowl of salt water? You’ve got to be kidding me.” …then I tried Japanese ramen, and begged to be forgiven for the sin of ignorance.

Not only are the noodles and broth incalculably superior to Top Ramen and Maru-chan, Japanese ramen is loaded with goodies like bean strouts, bamboo shoots, beef and pork.

There is a variety of different flavors/styles you’ll find ramen in. Shoyu (醤油: soy sauce) ramen is the “basic” style. Tonkotsu (豚骨: pig bone) is flavored with pork and has an opaque white broth. My personal favorite is Miso (味噌) ramen (spicy if available).

4. Shabu-shabu

Shabu-shabu (Price range: 2000-4000 JPY per person)

Shabu-shabu is one of the “communal” foods in Japan, typically eaten by a group of people to mark some occasion or get-together (you won’t find anyone eating shabu-shabu alone).

Basically, the restaurant brings out very thin strips of beef and pork, and you cook them by boiling them in a pot of water provided at the table.

But this food is something of a mystery to me. The mystery being the question of why it’s so damn good. The meat? Looks like they didn’t do anything to it. The water? Looks like normal water. The dipping sauces? Good, but the meat still tastes good without it too. So WHY doesn’t it come out this way when I try it at home! Must be Japanese ninja magic or something.

Regardless, shabu-shabu is a great thing to try if you have the opportunity, but you might need a Japanese guide to pull this one off.

Update: Thanks to Bobby on Facebook, I now know that shabu-shabu is not typically boiled in plain water, but instead in a kind of light beef/chicken broth. Mystery solved!

5. coffee jelly (etc.)

Coffee Jelly (Price range: 200-600 JPY)

I know you’re gonna doubt me on this one. It just seems strange, doesn’t it? Coffee… Jelly. Well, that automatic suspicion is exactly why it’s on this list. Without the extra push, most of us gaijin would turn our noses up at this sort of food and walk away. It sounds neither Japanese nor appealing, so I don’t blame you. After all, it took me the better part of my 4.5 years there to finally take the plunge on this one.

I can’t really say if you’ll like it, but if you like coffee, there’s a good chance. I liked it (a lot). My point here is, Japan is full of seemingly “strange” flavor and food combinations, but if you take your chances in Japan you’ll find that a lot of them are actually really, really good.

If I were you, I would pick up a cheap coffee jelly at the very first convenience store I saw. Consider it an initiation or symbolic gesture that you’re ready to get out there and try new things. Japan is well known for dishes like sushi and tempura, but there are so many littler discoveries out there just waiting to entertain your taste buds. Embrace the spirit of exploration!

Honorable mention: Mos Burger

If you’re in Japan and craving some a burger, don’t go to McDonalds. You can do that back home. Go to Mos Burger. The burgers there run a premium (300-400 JPY), but that premium is easily justified by the freshest ingredients and best taste you’ll find in a fast-food burger. And look: the burger is put together presentably!

What do you recommend?

I know a lot of my blog readers have already been to Japan or are there right now. What food turned out to be better than you thought and what would you recommend to someone coming to Japan on vacation?

Kangoku (監獄) means prison, and izakaya (居酒屋) is a Japanese style drinking restaurant.  So a kangoku izakaya is a Japanese restaurant/bar that has been styled to look like a prison! And if the thought of vicious felons and dirty prison cells doesn’t whet your appetite, I don’t know what will.

Kangoku Inshoku 42 Bou is the name of this peculiarly-themed izakaya, located in Sakae, Nagoya. With dinner courses ranging from around 2000 to 3000 yen and a nomihoudai (all you can drink) for 1000 yen, you can enjoy izakaya food similar to what you would find anywhere else, but from the comfort of a dark and spooky prison cell.

But why stop with just a prison izakaya when you can have a haunted prison izakaya! Kangoku 42 is decorated throughout with skeletons, chains, red blood-like splatters on the wall and other stereotypical haunted-house decor. It’s no wonder this place is so popular with the ladies, eh? (no, seriously, it is really popular with ladies)

At 8:00pm, there is even a nightly horror show. The entire restaurant goes dark (it’s dark to begin with, mind you, but once the show starts you can forget about eating for a while), and a spooky soundtrack starts playing. Gunshots fire off somewhere, flashes of light bounce off the marred concrete walls as an eerie voice narrates a deathly tale of… actually I was on the 2nd floor so I didn’t get a good view and I didn’t really know what was going on. Then the staff put on scary outfits and go around to the tables trying their best to spook all the customers.

It’s pricey (as are most izakayas), but an interesting experience. Might be good for dates. Definitely a great place for Halloween parties.

Come on, you know you want to… your table is waiting, prisoner! mwahahahahahahahahaaaaa!!!!

Here’s a google map for everyone:

View Larger Map
PS. For some reason they only have Heineken beer. Drink of choice for prisoners? (and exiles? *looks south*)

Japan Blog Matsuri

I’ve submitted this post to be included in the April 2010 Japan blog matsuri. This month’s Matsuri, about secret Japan, is hosted by Gakuranman, thanks!

(Translation: Lloyd used his blog as an excuse to order delivery pizza 5 times in one month.)

Anyway, let’s start with the unique way that Japan handles its delivery pizza business…

By delivery only

Pizza in Japan is basically delivery-only

In Japan, you can’t really go out for pizza. If you try to track down your local pizza place by address… you’ll find a site something like you see in this picture of a Pizza-la in Nagoya (Osu), and it will probably be in a more residential area than a commercial one. Inside, there’s a little space for you to stand and pay money (for takeout), but no place to sit down. Japanese pizza chains are pizza factories in the very literal sense of the word.

Delivery itself is handled by a mostly-young, mostly-male team of delivery staff, who speed around their store’s designated territory delivering pizzas that were ordered online or over the phone.

a Japanese pizza delivery scooter

Because young adults in Japan typically do not have their own vehicles to use to deliver, the dispatch of hot pizzas to hungry customers is done on motor-bikes like the one above.  I’d love to have one of those to zip back and forth to work… They’re like scooters but they’re better because they have a place to hold something and you’re protected from the rain.

Yummy Japanese Pizza!

How would you like a “Crab and Shrimp Mayo King” pizza? no? how does “Potato & Curry with Tartar Sauce” sound? I could really go for a “Berauma Omochi Chicken” pizza, myself. Japanese pizza has some of the most unique combinations imaginable, and even if they sound strange they usually are actually really tasty. Yes, you can find almost anything on a pizza here in Japan. …almost

Who doesn’t like Hawaiian pizza?

The Japanese don’t like Hawaiian pizza, that’s who! Even though they’re perfectly fine putting a sunny-side-up egg or a full unsliced sausage on a pizza, for some reason they think pineapple is weird because it’s “sweet” and “a fruit.” Psh! Tsk! Bah!

Hawaiian pizza is thoroughly discriminated against, too… If it’s to be found at all, it’s near the bottom of the menu. Pizza-la includes it only in their “Children’s menu” section. Pizza Hut, which is otherwise a bastion of American-style pizza arrangement, doesn’t even offer it. RAAAAGGGGEEEE!!!!

…Corn?

In contrast, Japanese have a strange fascination with adding corn to their pizza, of all things. Even the little instant pizzas that you get from 100 yen stores always come with a few pieces of corn (I’ll guess it’s partly there for aesthetic). It puzzles me a little bit but… well, whatever… it’s not bad, I guess.

5 Pizza Reviews

Over the new year while I hid myself away in my apartment and became one with Final Fantasy XIII, and during that time I ordered out for pizza 3 times (that’s in a span of 6 days), and I had another pizza about a week later and another after that with a coupon a friend gave me. In the order that I devoured these, here’s what I got and what I thought.

1.

The Pizza: Large Half-and-Half Giga Meat + Chiki-Teri (Chicken Teriyaki)

Yes, that’s broccoli on the pizza. No, I’m not kidding, seriously: broccoli. Oh, and the white stuff? That’s mayonnaise (Japanese mayo, mind you, not that white paste that gets passed off as mayonnaise in America… but that’s another blog post). Yep, this is the kind of perverted stuff that Japanese like to do to pizza. Strange? a little. Delicious? Hell yeah!

2.

The pizza: Medium Hawaiian Delight

Although they push it down to the kids menu, Pizza-la provides expatriates the only real Hawaiian pizza on this island. It was so delicious I forgot to take pictures before I dove in…

3.

The pizza: Large UFO (4-mix), Berauma Omochi Chiken x Spicy Tuna x Hawaiian x Super combo with sausage crust.

Aoki’s is the most exotic of the major pizza chains in Japan. They have the most unique menu, and they’re the only place that will allow you to mix and match 4 pizzas from their regular menu with their “UFO” deal (other pizza chains only let you do half and half). Aoki’s is great if you’re looking for a delicious pizza that is also kind of an adventure.

One interesting tidbit about Aoki’s: they don’t cut the pizza all the way to the edge of the crust on purpose, to hold the pizza together for delivery. However, I think they should cut it… Domino’s, and Pizza Hut and Pizza-la all managed to deliver the pizza just fine with the slices.

Some of Aoki’s seasonal or regional specialties and limited edition pizzas don’t even resemble pizza…

4.

The pizza: Large half-and-half Super Korean Purukogi + Bacon Mushroom with cheesy roll crust.

Japanese Pizza Hut is probably the most “American”-style pizza out of this bunch. Their menu has some Japanese favorites like seafood and mayonnaise, but nothing too outrageous. Pizza hut is also the most generous with their tomato sauce (other pizza places tend to be a little lacking).

I highly recommend checking out their Super Korean Purukogi, by the way. My local pizza hut has a half price day every month (on some of their menu, take-out only), and I always get the Purukogi.

5.

The pizza: Large Seafood Italiana

Yeah, I know I’ve already tried a Pizza-la pizza, but a friend of mine gave me a coupon for Pizza-la so I decided to get a second opinion. This seafood pizza comes with shrimp, shellfish and squid, among other things.

Ordering Pizza Online

I could have called in my orders, but for this blog I decided to do everything online. All four of these pizza delivery chains allow you to order online.

Screenshots (Feb 12, 2010)

Domino’s (left) – Pizza-La (right)

Pizza Hut (left) – Aoki’s (right)

Although Aoki’s pizza’s online ordering system was down yesterday when I went to take a screenshot, it was working over New Year’s holiday when I made my order. Even then, though their order system was outsourced to a pretty primitive looking 3rd party website. I hope Aoki’s gets their online act together soon.

As for the others, they all offer pretty much the same ordering experience. You locate which store you need to order into by searching your postal code, then select and order your pizza and you’re done. Domino’s takes credit cards but none of the sites require payment before delivery.

Here’s a quick table I’ve compiled to compare these 4 chains and their sites…

	Pizza Hut http://www.pizzahut.jp/	Domino’s http://www.dominos.jp/	Pizza-La http://www.pizza-la.co.jp/	Aoki’s Pizza http://www.aokispizza.co.jp/
Requires Registration to order?	no	yes	no	n/a (site wasn’t working)
Large pizza size?	31cm / 10 slices	36cm / 12 slices	36cm / 12 slices	35cm / 12 slices
Medium pizza size?	25cm / 8 slices	25cm / 8 slices	25cm / 8 slices	25cm / 8 slices
Mix and match?	Half & Half only	Half & Half only	Half & Half only	Half & Half or 4-way (UFO)
Online deal	Free drinks (tea)	5% discount*	Free side dish	Free drink or side dish
Menu in English?	Pizza names only	Downloadable	Yes (link)	No
Hawaiian???!	No	Yes, with corn.	Yes!!!	Yes, but HUGE pineapple chunks
Overall online order experience	★★★★	★★★★★	★★★	★
Overall pizza satisfaction	★★★	★★★★	★★★	★★★★★
Unique touch	Adequate pizza sauce	Style and selection	Scratch card game	Epic Japanese pizza
Weak point	Large size is small	A little pricey	Poor selection	Crappy website

* Domino’s also offers a free 1-liter coca-cola coupon on their site and you can win other coupons that you can use right away by playing their flash games.

Which do I recommend?

Now that I’ve tried all four, I can see that they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Which one I recommend depends on what the pizza objective is:

• Exotic and delicious? = Aoki’s
  • All around, Aoki’s offers a superb pizza with excellent options, and out of the box they are absolutely beautiful works of art.
• I WANT MEEEEEAAAAT!!! = Domino’s
  • Domino’s also offers a wonderful pizza and is the most generous with their toppings.
• Hawaiian = Pizza-La
  • Something about Pizza-La’s menu items just don’t appeal to me. They all look good, but when I actually go to order I feel like there’s only a couple I would really pay for. But, they offer a good Hawaiian pizza with no surprises.
• Half-price day pizza = Pizza Hut
  • In terms of pizza, Pizza Hut doesn’t have much to say in their defense other than that they use more sauce. But if you’re in Japan and your local Pizza Hut offers a half-price day (not all do), then plan ahead and get yourself one of their Purukogi pizzas!

Prices

Pizza in Japan is very expensive by western standards. A medium pizza typically runs 2000 to 2500 yen ($22-27 USD), a large pizza will cost 2900-3600 and up. Dominos has a reputation as the most expensive and certainly their top end is higher (Large Prime Seafood = 3950 yen) than other chains, but most of the pizzas on their menu don’t vary much when compared to other chains.

…But remember!

In Japan, you don’t need to tip the driver.

Japan Blog Matsuri!

イッツ・ア・祭り～ぃ！ I’ve entered this blog post in this month’s JapanSoc Japan Blog Matsuri! This month’s host is Muza-chan’s Gate to Japan! (Thank you, Muza-chan!)

Let’s all celebrate this month’s Matsuri with a delicious pizza!

A bottle of Azuki-flavored Pepsi

Azuki is a bean commonly used in traditional Japanese sweets. I’m not sure if the bean itself is sweet or not, but it is nearly always used with a ton of sugar.

Azuki beans

Personally, I’m not really a fan of them. I like sweet things but Japanese candies made with azuki are usually just too sweet for me. But, since I have a blog about Japanese stuff I kinda feel obligated to try these things.

So, how is it?

Not bad. Better than the pizza-flavored instant yakisoba I had recently and the flavor does resemble azuki if you use your imagination a little. But something about it didn’t seem quite like azuki to me, so I checked the ingredients list for a hint…

Ingredients list on the back of the bottle.

A-ha! So that’s your secret: grapes. Actually, after reading that my mind picked up on the grapey-ness of the drink a lot better, and now I actually think it tastes more like grape than azuki. So, if you’re a grape soda fan, give azuki Pepsi a try! The drink contains no actual azuki, so it’s not like you’re drinking anything disgusting (well, not any more disgusting than a regular Pepsi).

Actually, Pepsi releases flavors that no one wants on a seasonal basis, probably in an attempt to try and build brand awareness and grab market share from Coca-cola, who is much more strongly positioned in the Japanese market. You can read more about stupid Pepsi flavors here: Shiso Pepsi and links to other silly flavors.

For now, here are a couple random shots from my travels so far…

Music from back in the good orld days.

Look out for the cutely drawn raccoons.

The construction zone frog!

15,750 Japanese Yen = (Apx.) 178 USD = 111 GBP = 200 AUD = 121 Euros = way too freaking much. But damn do those look like some fine grapes…

Japanese sometimes translate things too well for their own good. How many westerners are actually familiar with the word alight, I wonder?

Okay, that’s all for this short post. I’m looking forward to getting back to updating nihonshock more regularly, but that won’t be until next week.

The box

Note: Pizza-la is a Japanese pizza chain store (I have to say store instead of restaurant because Japanese pizza is 99% delivery)

The product

For those of you looking at the above image and thinking “there’s no way that tastes like pizza,” you’re correct. I decided to become a guinea pig for the sake of science and tried it myself. The actual flavor as far as I can tell is primarily pepper, kind of mixed with an artificial-meaty flavor… Cheese? Tomato Sauce? Sorry…, not on this “pizza.”

Oh well, I wasn’t expecting too much (it is just a box of instant noodles, after all). I pretty much just got a cheap dinner and an easy blog post out of the deal.

The verdict: leave this product alone, you’re not missing anything. It’s not so different from any other instant noodle. Not that it’s really bad, but it’s not anywhere close enough to pizza to be as interesting as the box implies.

However, somewhere in logical order of things there is a line of miniaturization for certain things which need not be crossed… that is, except by the Japanese.

On a quick trip to the supermarket last night I picked up four examples of miniaturization gone wild, but I’m sure there are plenty more lurking all over this country.

1. 135ml (4.5oz) Asahi beer = 100 yen

Here, let me help you put that in perspective…

I guess this is one option for staying within the legal limit…

2. Mini-Mayonnaise = 67 yen

And again, in perspective…

Share it with a friend to save even more calories.

3. Mini Instant Noodles = 95 yen

Happens to be just about as big as my coffee cup…

For these noodles, the “instant” refers to the time required for eating.

4. Potato Chips = 78 yen

Mmmm… don’t those look yummy?

Too bad you have to eat at least 3 at a time to get the sensation of having something in your mouth.

I’ll try to find some more mini things.

PS. Anyone remember Zoolander’s mobile phone? Mark my words, the Japanese will build it. It’s just a matter of time…