The Conbini

Photo by Stéphan Le Dû

Japanese convenience stores are practically a cultural institution. There’s one on every corner, open 24 hours a day — on national holidays or in the middle of the night when everything else is closed, you’ll still find the friendly glow of the conbini (or konbini, short for the katakana-tastic konbiniensu sutoa) beckoning you in. They don’t carry enough substantial vegetarian stuff to make a full meal, but they’re great for a snack or in a pinch.

Eating In

Cooking for yourself is obviously a good way to have filling, nutritious vegetarian meals. The problem is, eating in is not that easy in Japan.

First off,  the sad excuse for a kitchen in the photo is mine: two electric burners, a small fridge, and a microwave (and no counter space). More difficult than that, though, is the fact that there aren’t any grocery stores near my apartment. I don’t know how it is in other places around Tokyo, but in Kanda, the closest thing is sort of a mini-supermarket called Kaede — fine for oils, noodles, and other basics, but their selection of fresh food is pitiful. Thankfully, my boyfriend just discovered a vegetable vendor nearby, so we finally have more than green beans and carrots at home. (Potatoes!) It’s just one guy and a stall, though, so there’s a limited amount of stuff we can get.

As for quick and/or cheap “meals,” the conbini aren’t as helpful for me as they are for non-vegetarians. They sell dozens of types of instant noodles, but any that doesn’t have meat in it is totally unsubstantial. I found minestrone at the Sunkus across the street, but it turned out to have chicken extract in it — and the garlic-flavored potato chips we bought there contained pork extract. I did buy some inari (fried-tofu pouches filled with rice) and a salad at FamilyMart, which were pretty cheap and nice for a snack — and all of the fruit-in-gelatin things, which I hate in the States, and the yogurt that I’ve tried has been delicious. But there’s nothing that I could use for a whole meal, even a light one.

So I’m kind of stuck. If we eat in, we’re eating the same ingredients over and over again, and it might not be enough to fill us up. If we go out, not only are we spending money, but we have to hunt all over for a place where I can actually find something to eat … which not only is Indian or Italian food 98% of the time, but ends up being significantly more expensive than if I could just pop into one of the million tiny soba shops. Unless we can find a better place to buy food and/or a cheap Japanese restaurant that has food for me, this is going to be a very tough few months.