Kyoto: Supermarkets

Supermarkets share many similarities with American supermarkets, but there are still many differences. This section covers all the supermarkets I visited in Japan not just counting Kyoto. In every supermarket, there is a large seafood section serving anything from tuna to octopus tentacles. The seafood offers a freshness that is unobtainable in many landlocked, American grocery stores.

There are many unusual aspects in Japanese grocery store including above-average fruit prices. The fruit all come from Japan and some fruit like the grapes and peaches are often very large, but still priced ridiculously high. With such high prices, the average Japanese person likely doesn't purchase many fruits, which seems like it would lead to a poorly balanced diet. As it turns out many Japanese people are frugal shoppers and can find the fruits in season to get a much more reasonably priced item. Bananas are not usually that expensive, so most Japanese people eat these. The fruit is of higher quality, but smaller portions are sold. Stores that sell only fruit tend to also have very cheap prices, so perhaps most people purchase their fruits from there. On the other hand, vegetables and mushrooms are cheaper, so they are eaten for almost every meal.

As seen above the kiwi's are cheaper because they are in season and at a food stand. The peaches are very expensive because they are not in season and at a supermarket. Not all fruits are more expensive at the supermarket, but it seemed that the fruit prices were cheaper at stores that only sold fruit.

 Another interesting aspect of grocery stores are the drink sections. In the milk section, I only managed to find chocolate milk once while looking at many grocery stores. The milk is usually plain milk with the exception of coffee-flavored, fruit-flavored, almond milk, and soy milk. Chocolate milk has added sugar to it, so many people likely choose other healthier options. In regards to packaging, I did not find many six-packs or boxes of drinks. Beverages are either sold in normal-sized bottles or an extra-large bottle for certain drinks. I found a package of three Cokes that were special editions for tourist and I found six-packs of alcohol, but all other drinks were just single bottles. This may be due to companies trying to minimize the amount of extra waste produced in packaging or having single bottles so the consumer has to actively consider the amount of a drink they are purchasing. Like the vending machine, most drinks were sugar-free.

 Probably the most interesting aspect of Japanese grocery stores are the pre-made meals. The meals are pretty high quality and are about the same quality as most restaurants. Starting at around 4 pm, stores start to mark down the meals and by 8 pm the highest discount is given to try and eliminate the store's waste. This allows many people to buy relatively healthy meals on a budget. These discounts can range from 10-50% off and on rare occasions 75% off.