Chopstick it over, Tokyo! - Japan, what a funny place

This is a guest post by Joel Edinberg, my frequent dining companion/co-conspirator/etc. Just over a year ago, he took a business trip to Japan. He took tons of food photos to make me jealous. He succeeded. This is the third of four posts by Joel about the food he encountered on his trip. You can read the first post here and the second post here.

This section of Chopstick It Over, Tokyo! is dedicated to all the really funny foods and wonderful cultural differences that I saw during my travels. Just to warm you up, I’ll show you a store I saw every day on my way to work.

Yeah… they sell eyeglasses. It actually took me a few minutes to figure out that it wasn't some chic Japanese porn shop.

I have always heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and Isehara certainly knows that. Here they have the best available breakfast you could get anywhere.

What better way to start your day?

While walking around Tokyo one day, I had spotted an American cuisine restaurant. In Japan, most restaurants will have plastic plated food outside on display to show people what type of food they were serving. This was no exception.

So now, all of you know what the Japanese think of as American food.

As you walk around Tokyo, there are vending machines everywhere. I’m pretty sure they got rid of the “used women’s underwear” vending machines, and this time I didn’t see any of the beer vending machines (I did see one last time). But, most of the vending machines sell coffee and tea in a can. Apparently you can also get corn potage in a can, from a vending machine.

I made sure to save the best picture for last. Before I arrived in Japan, my colleagues had been to one restaurant where they had a separate English menu. This is actually a somewhat common practice as it does help with tourists. My colleagues found this gem of a menu while in Tokyo.

My favorite item is the second from the bottom in the left column.

That concludes part 3 of Chopstick it over, Tokyo! Be sure to check out the final post!