Gourmet Navi is a great website (in Japanese and English) for searching out recommended restaurants in a specific area, based on price, food style (Italian, Asian, etc.), and other preferences. Favorite features include online menus and coupons that offer real bargains (free bottle of wine, 20% of dinner, etc.) on dining at the restaurants.
I’ve been too busy the last year to do much beyond holiday meals and the very basics. But, I’m determine to get back into the good ole daitokoro (kitchen) sometime soon. In the meantime, I’m beefing up on my Japanese cooking basics. Why Japanese cooking? Well, for one very good rea [ ... ]
Although I like to concentrate on frugal issues which affect a larger segment of the population, I felt it time to introduce one of what I consider to be one of Japan’s greatest cheap secrets: homemade baby food. Wait a minute, you say, generations of mothers in my family were a whiz at the mo [ ... ]
This tip comes courtesy of an avid Frugal Japan reader, Curt Sampson. He has kindly given me permission to share with you some Shibuya food scavenging advice. Many thanks, Curt! Your supermarket article reminded me that Yamaya has moved their Shibuya shop closer to the station and expanded it greatl [ ... ]
Have you ever wondered why even getting the smallest thing done seems incredibly complicated in this country sometimes? Buying food and supplies, and trying to save money at it, can be quite a chore. Try adding a new baby, an ill family member, or a busy work schedule to the equation, and you really [ ... ]
No, I’m not channelling ‘Oliver,’ nor about to break into spontaneous song and dance – I’m just excited to share a few frugal grocery shopping tips with my loyal readers. Grocery, or food shopping, is one area where everyone, I think, can learn to save a little money. O [ ... ]
Summer in Japan always makes me nostalgic for .. summers of Japan past? Not really, but it was a shock when I realized a few weeks ago that it had been precisely 10 years since I first set foot in the land of the Rising Yen. As an impressionable university student, I had zero financial [...] [ ... ]
One of the funnest parts of living in any large Japanese city, or Japan for that matter, is experiencing the multitude of restaurants available. With the exception of deep rural Japan, most Japanese cities offer an abundance of dining options. The tricky parts are, of course, finding these restauran [ ... ]
Food is expensive in Japan. For most people the grocery bill makes up a large portion of their weekly expenditure. One way to reduce this outlay is to buy in bulk when items are on special. With the limited space in many Japanese refrigerators though, buying easily spoiled items in bulk can take a l [ ... ]
Last week, I asked Frugal Japan readers of the male persuasion to offer up some advice that would be useful to the men among us (to counteract all the stuff that I usually write about). While the response for manly frugal advice has yet to bring in a tidal wave of information, I was happy [...] [ ... ]