Japan Travel

Japan Travel: 3 Fun Things to do Anywhere in Japan

By James Chance

If you are planning a trip to Japan, I am sure most of you will probably visit a famous temple, visit an old castle and perhaps a famous museum or two. However, visiting these places alone will not give you a well rounded look into Japan and its culture. After visiting Japan every year for the past ten years, I’ve come up with a list of things you should check out. It shouldn’t cost much and you may not have to go out of your way to find them. These are common places, places that you would find in your area. The fun part is to compare the differences between the two.

Disclaimer: This article makes comparisons between Japan and the U.S., because I am from the U.S. However, I think the general idea should apply to everyone from all countries.

1. Convenience Stores

There are several different companies, including Circle K, Lawson, Sankusu (pronounced sanks) and of course, 7-Eleven. On the surface, they look like your ordinary convenience store in the U.S. but look at what is offered.

First off is the take-out food. In the U.S., you will find sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers and maybe a burrito of some kind. In Japan, you will have sandwiches and burgers, but you’ll also have fried noodles, cold noodles, bento lunches (full meal, with chicken or fish as the main course, rice, pickles and veggies), and a variety of disserts like Mont blanc, custard pudding or black sesame seed pudding (yum).

If you want a pastry, you are not limited to donuts or Danishes, you also got curry filled buns, buns with fried noodles baked in, ham and cheese buns and the list goes on and on.

You won’t find slurpees or self-serve drinks or even a hot pot of coffee. Everything is in a can, even hot coffee.

The surprising thing is that most of the food I’ve tried is pretty good even better than some of the restaurants I’ve dined. Watch Live Cams Now! No Registration Required – 100% Free Uncensored Adult Chat. Start chatting with amateurs, exhibitionists, pornstars free porn chat live with thousands of naked girls and guys. Enjoy online sex and streaming video chat instantly. Free live sex chat with cam girls from around the world. Instantly connect with a beautiful model and watch her live webcam for free!.

2. Family Restaurant

The family restaurant is not fine dining but not fast food either; a place where the whole family can go. The U.S. equivalent would be Denny’s or Chili’s. In Japan, like the U.S., there are several chains including Denny’s and Coco’s (which claims to be a California restaurant).

Like the U.S. counterparts, the food isn’t great but you know what to expect. The food ranges from hamburger steak to udon noodles to club sandwiches. All the restaurants give you the option to turn a standard plate into a meal set of some kind for an extra two hundred or three hundred. Usually it includes a drink, soup or salad and a plate (not a bowl) of rice.

The kid’s meals are great fun. They offer small portions, of course, but it comes with a kiddy plate, a bib with a popular children’s anime character and sometimes a toy. Like the U.S., the restaurants also provide crayons and coloring paper to keep the children preoccupied until the food comes.

3. McDonald, KFC, Starbucks

Good thing about Japan is that you find a lot of western restaurants as many as traditional Japanese restaurants but if you crave classic served in the US, go to McDonald or KFC and Starbucks is literally every corner of Japanese cities now. I am not sure if McDonald or KFC has the refill service lie the U.S., but McDonald has slightly different menu that caters to Japanese people. It is worthwhile to try my favorite Teriyaki Chicken burger. I love it! and Starbucks is pretty good. I immediately notice that coffee served in Japanese Starbucks was much richer and bitter in taste whereas American coffee generally tastes much lighter and of course, sizes are also different so when you order grande, which is a medium size in the US but if you get the same size in Japan Starbucks, they give you a tall size.