Tokyo Part 6 – Snacks & Shinjuku

Snacking in Japan ain’t easy and to be honest I didn’t really expect it to be. Most convenience stores are filled with zany foreign snacks that could be vegan however the language barrier prevents you from ever knowing (unless you’re lucky enough to be travelling with someone who speaks Japanese) even some of the potato chips and nuts are apparently fried in animal fats over here so your classic go-to snacks could even be off limits!

To the contrary of what I’d been told, there is a fair bit of fresh fruit available over here which is awesome, I’d suggest maybe stocking up on a variety and keeping them in your fridge if you have those facilities available to you in your accommodation. Juices are pretty easy to come by too, which is great if you just feel like a refreshing drink.

In terms of other snacks, you really have to seek them out. I found the chain, conveniently called “SuperMarket” (there’s one at both Tokyo and Shinjuku stations) stocks a lot of imported snacks such as pretzels, crackers, peanut butter and potato chips. They also have some refrigerated items like olives which is awesome too. All of this stuff have ingredients listed in English but sometimes you have to be a bit sneaky and peel back the Japanese ingredient sticker to get a proper look.

There is also a chain of stores called Plaza which is a little bit like a convenience store crossed with a drug store. They had a range of imported snacks as well and were located in a lot of shopping complexes which certainly comes in handy!

I really got into the habit of taking a snack or two with me each day just in case I wasn’t able to find anything to eat, this came in handy a few times, especially on the 3 hour train ride to Osaka.

In term of cost, all of this deliciousness can be a little pricey. One night after a day at DisneySea I recall spending over 3000 yen on a bag of snacks (over $35AUD). To be honest though, I did stock up a little too much and had some to spare.