Let's go shopping at a Japanese supermarket! We'll introduce recommended products and even some Japanese conversation at the

Hello everyone this is Yuko your Japanese teacher Today I've arrived at a Japanese supermarket The supermarket behind me right now is Life a Japanese supermarket chain Today I'll be doing some shopping here Things like conversations at the register and the overall atmosphere in the store— if I can share some commonly used Japanese expressions let's go take a look together— so let's head inside right away Let's first take a quick look at the sales area B1 can everyone read this Results vegetables fruits and so on And fish meat processed foods ice cream frozen foods snacks dairy products flowers kitchen supplies and pet supplies are located on level B1 And the first floor is set up like this—those dining at a hotel or bringing their own bento might want to take some home Also the prepared foods and bakery sections sell bread There's also a café with dine-in options here— I'll show you this place later too— and since you can buy drinks and alcohol here be sure to give it a try Now the It's a bit sudden but right now we're approaching February when Japan's traditional festival of Setsubun is celebrated and this is the fukumame used during that occasion This is roasted soybeans On the day of Setsubun you eat one more than your age in number Typically Setsubun falls on February 3rd And over here on the left there's a cosmetics section it's quite spacious you can probably find just about anything you're looking for By the way this Rose Rosa brush is very easy to use so I highly recommend it it’s not too expensive and has excellent quality so I definitely recommend it And this is the alcohol section huh Amazing how many options they have here Martini and other non-alcoholic Japanese drinks with a taste similar to alcohol—lots of people have been drinking these lately right It says non-alcoholic which means it contains no alcohol Here right before the non-alcoholic section is Asahi's non-alcoholic lineup featuring a wide variety of all-free non-alcoholic options This whole area is thoroughly soaked in alcohol isn't it Without the label indicating "non-alcoholic " it means alcohol is present There's an impressive variety of whiskies available here This would make a great souvenir to bring back home Amazing there are even these huge bottles There's also a sake section next to it This is a sake meant to be enjoyed chilled Here you see There's still some sake here too And when you're drinking alcohol you'll need some snacks right This one's delicious It's gurnard Then there's something a bit Japanese like cod or umeboshi these kinds of slightly fishy snacks are also delicious and this one is great too—squid yes A slightly sweet and tangy flavor Beef tongue is also available here—this looks promising too perfect as a snack Wow amazing—right next to it is a fresh juice corner and this area on the right is set up as a dining-in space where you can buy coffee or bread and enjoy it here Continuing with a brief introduction to the sales area Sushi rolls come in an amazing variety of types By the way my favorite among these is gindara do you all like gindara too I absolutely love it—it's so delicious isn't it There are many different kinds of croquettes but personally I prefer this cream croquette Now I'm back at another bento corner This section has quite a few items with a distinctly Japanese flavor I wonder if anyone here has tried these before Dishes like this simple pumpkin stew are delicious in a rustic down-to-earth way And bamboo shoots are great too—they're incredibly delicious You can buy onigiri miso soup and these kinds of side dishes right And the egg custard is delicious too This is a recommended microwave heating time Microwave heating time refers to the recommended duration for warming in a microwave It can be heated for 2 minutes at 500 watts Potato salad and other salads come in an enormous variety in Hokkaido for example you can even find potato salads made with local potatoes Then there's this snack-style potato salad with corned beef "snack" refers to food that pairs well with alcoholic drinks It's called a snack but it contains corned beef —kind of salty isn't it Looks delicious though I just took a quick look around this floor so I'll go ahead and start putting some items in here while I shop and by the way there's another floor below as well so let's get the items sorted on this floor first There are incredibly many types of cheese Amazing this whole thing is just cheese What could this be Nachos are for sale too—looks delicious Then let's go downstairs Wait a second—I just remembered there was a fukumame for Setsubun earlier so I think I’d like to get some fukumame after all I’ll take this too sorry Is the bill settled per floor Is it okay if I bring my own Thank you Let's get off here There are strawberries Let's buy some of these— strawberries are at their peak right now there are so many different strawberry brands available but personally there's no doubt in my mind that this Amao is the best they're incredibly sweet and delicious But back then it was just plain amao but now there are truly all kinds of varieties available —this one here is Hakata amao And Ikiyakuri this is really huge isn't it Can you tell how big this is compared to my hand It's an enormous strawberry And the land Ikiyakuri is also delicious right This might be the first time I've seen this—apparently it's Yumeno Ka from Nagasaki Prefecture Looks delicious doesn't it And there are also organic strawberries available This is the real fruit of the Coinminori variety from a farm in Ibaraki Prefecture Last night Kumamoto's painting features Kumamoto with incredibly vid colors What should we do now Well maybe it's Amao after all—Yui Farm's Amao strawberries Let's go with this Shine Musca It's seasonal so availability is limited but it's delicious and there's also fresh salad available—looks incredibly appetizing This salad is made right here in the shop too Things like this are nice to bring back to your room aren't they Otherwise right now at this time of year mandarins are especially delicious All of this here Oranges are amazing aren't they There's some explanation written here but warming oranges turns them into an exquisite dessert Microwaving an orange wrapped in foil "Microwaving" means heating it in the microwave Peel and serve with ice — really I wonder if it's true Should I give it a try for the first time Which one do you think There are just too many options By the way the place name "Aritha" here is actually quite well known—Aritha Mikanen you see—located right below it it says "light sensor and grade selection " This means the sweetness is carefully selected before shipment essentially guaranteeing it will be sweet if you prefer something sweet then this kind of light sensor and I think it's better to choose the one labeled "Degree Selection " Dried sweet potatoes I absolutely love dried sweet potatoes How about you all This is the dried sweet potato stick version of that fungus isn't it Could it be a bit smaller Is this size the only option available Then let's just buy some dried sweet potatoes Yes this one's a great recommendation Then there's tomato Wow tomatoes are amazing—there are so many varieties here it's hard to choose And speaking of root vegetables this yam kempu is also delicious—highly recommended The sweet potato fries have a bit of sugar clinging to them from the frying oil These are dried oysters which you can eat as is they go well with tea such as black or green tea I think it would also pair well with alcohol and it's delicious with cheese or dried oysters And although it might be a bit hard to buy while traveling I’ll also briefly introduce the fish section behind this one—mustard- flavored myeongtong This is incredibly delicious There are so many varieties of mentaiko here and this shop has quite a selection too For example just buy a pack of rice heat it in the microwave then buy this mentaiko and eat them together—it's incredibly delicious And this vibrant green seaweed is edible and perfect for cooking I especially like adding it to soups just a simple addition to dashi-based broth makes it delicious This would make a good souvenir too I think I could bring this back with me Flaked baked salmon used in onigiri or simply poured over warm rice—delicious This area is the sushi counter isn't it You can eat this in the hotel room too There are also sushi here There are also grilled fish available since these are already cooked you can eat them straight away Still it's an incredibly spacious store isn't it The supermarket near my house isn't that big but it's overwhelming how many things catch your eye Even just one item like meat or tomatoes for example comes in an enormous variety Getting lost has its own charm in the joy of choosing Roast beef — this one's absolutely delicious too This would be a great meal to enjoy in the hotel room—roast beef slices made with domestically sourced beef and since it says 20% off that means exactly a 20% discount That's amazing This one is all miso from end to end There are many different types of miso For example this is mixed miso—fairly standard in flavor But compared to that for instance this is called Hachijō miso a very dark-colored miso See like this— The flavor is quite rich as well I think Nagoya tends to have quite a bit of this kind of miso—reddish almost black in color really Then there's things like Sendai miso for example—great that you can find this here in Tokyo and it says "authentic Sendai from the original Hara-koshi " Then there's also white miso The white miso is right here on top This is white miso in the Kansai region around Kyoto white miso is often used white miso has a strong koji flavor and is notably sweet Mixing in various ingredients to suit your preferred miso soup is also delicious And here's the miso soup ingredients section For example when making miso soup and you find it troublesome to prepare the ingredients just quickly toss in something like this You can make miso soup easily with just the miso and these ingredients It's highly recommended when you want a quick and simple meal And this area is delicious too It's konbu simmered in sweet soy sauce "Tsukudani" refers to ingredients simmered in soy sauce and other seasonings This is konbu The ingredient is from Ise which is in Japan It is made from seaweed harvested in Ise Japan It is eaten by sprinkling it directly onto rice Same here isn't it It's konnyaku simmered with seaweed This is the bonito flakes section right Do most people like their cold noodles with a generous sprinkle of bonito We've got the perfect bonito flakes for that right here I highly recommend the individually packed version for its convenience These are single-use 1 5g packets meaning you use the entire contents in one go Seriously try sprinkling this bonito over your tofu And just a splash of soy sauce makes it delicious all on its own—also as written here it tastes great served over egg rice A section featuring various soy sauces from across Japan like smoked soy sauce light -colored mixed soy sauce and soy sauce made with shellfish—so many delicious options There are even smaller bottles available so it 's fine to try them out and compare them right The kind you'd normally use in daily life is right here All of it is soy sauce Wow what an incredible selection Everything from here to here is soy sauce This is ponzu which is a seasoning made by combining soy sauce with yuzu and other ingredients Personally my favorite is this one—Asahi Ponzu is highly recommended I use it frequently at home as well When I don't have this I choose this one Umajinmara This one is also delicious There are plenty more aren't there There are various types of salt including foreign salts but Japan also offers many kinds This is snow salt from Okinawa—very fluffy and has a unique texture highly recommended Another popular item is This is seasoned salt with kelp and dried shiitake mushrooms plus a bit of potato powder—flavored salt perfect for making onigiri Just a light sprinkle when seasoning makes it truly delicious How about you all Do you like okonomiyaki When it comes to the sauce for okonomiyaki it's this Otafuku sauce Of course it's available in different varieties depending on use Yakisoba takoyaki okonomiyaki — they may be different but they're all delicious " Okonomi sauce" simply means the sauce for okonomiyaki and that's how you drizzle it on Next to it you can buy okonomiyaki flour so once you're back home from your trip all you need to do is prepare cabbage eggs and water then just add this flour and sauce You can make authentic okonomiyaki here and I'll also show you the packaged rice— there's regular rice available too but it' s a bit tricky to get when you're traveling Carrying rice back with you isn't practical and you can't eat it at the hotel either—this kind of pre- packaged rice is available for sale For example this is a sugar-coated rice meal packaged like this and when heated in a microwave it becomes warm delicious white rice Recently it's not just plain white rice anymore Brown rice and barley rice among various types of packaged meals are available and you can purchase just one of each So if the hotel happens to have a microwave like this packaged rice plus instant miso soup and also the menhaden fish roe from earlier When you buy those convenience foods often called "meal companions " you can easily make a simple breakfast on your own—thanks to Yume Pirika's packaged rice There are many rice brands in Japan but my favorites are Tsuyahime and Yume Prikka—try this Yume Prikka and also give the packaged rice version a shot Yume Pirika too and Ato Tuyahime as well—amazing Tuyahime's packaged rice Tuyahime is my absolute favorite Among the rice I've eaten recently I highly recommend giving it a try It's a ready-to-eat rice that you can heat up in the microwave If you're a curry lover definitely consider this retort curry as a unique souvenir my personal favorite is this one—Matsusaka Beef Curry Eating Matsusaka beef normally can be quite expensive but this isn't that pricey —just 438 yen and very affordable Plus there are lots of other options here too Hida beef curry Tokachi beef curry —various beef curries are available Instant miso soup and various soups are also available in a wide selection Among them this is my favorite series Not too rich in flavor just right The ingredients' flavors are beautifully highlighted making it incredibly delicious And at the seasoning corner the must-try souvenirs are shichimi black shichimi other shichimi varieties and yuzu kosho I absolutely love this yuzu pepper it's available from many different brands even though the name suggests it contains pepper it actually doesn't—just look at the ingredients Yuzu and chili pepper A bit of a spicy kick But the yuzu aroma is also wonderfully fresh and delicious Around here it's more like functional food you could say Items with slightly reduced calories or low-carb products for example There are vegan noodles available too and also curries made with soy-based meat If someone has a wheat allergy note that soy sauce often contains wheat but this is a wheat-free soy sauce There are also plenty of child-friendly snacks like this and I ended up spending quite a bit of time browsing through everything especially since there's such a wide variety of wagashi available Be sure to give it a try Mitarashi dango is delicious anytime isn't it It's so tasty There's a corner here where we only use these kinds of snacks giving it a bit of a sweet shop vibe And just now the selection upstairs had a bit more of a serious gourmet cheese vibe but there are also these everyday-friendly cheeses available—perfect for buying bread at a bakery and pairing them together Maybe a snack or breakfast would be nice too Yes please Sorry I'll use the gift card Do you have your point card with you If you're not sure where it is we can still add the points is that alright No I don't have it The total is 4 532 yen so here's the gift voucher Please take it Thank you very muc I'll pay the rest with credit Since payment is required before self-check-in I'll guide you through it Yes it's self-check-in So please touch the credit button on the screen select the receipt option and then touch here or insert your card We have dry ice and regular ice here so if you purchase ice or frozen goods there are designated areas for both ice and dry ice Dry ice is over here It comes out from this machine The current ice is located down here inside this container So use this shovel to retrieve it And dry ice is used for frozen foods such as ice cream meat and fish you'll need to insert coins for this And this is a coin-operated refrigerated locker—yes it costs money but it's truly a refrigerator where you can temporarily store cold items you've purchased So I managed to finish shopping without any issues The store was incredibly spacious—there's a Life store in my hometown but I've never seen one this big before The selection is so extensive that you can basically buy anything you want making it highly recommended—definitely pick up some souvenirs from the Life supermarket when you visit Japan Also I highly recommend trying the combo of my favorite rice pack with mentaiko —definitely give it a try That’s all for today’s video see you in the next one Goodbye