A foray into Japanese grocery shopping

(FYI: If you hold shift and click on a picture, you can view it larger.)

At every grocery store there is at least one parking attendant with an orange wand wearing a blue vest. This is incredibly helpful when looking for a parking space in a very crowded parking lot. Here are a few pictures of a typical grocery store on Okinawa. You'll notice that everything is packaged very nicely. Packing is very important here. First, a "goya", which is an Okinawan cucumber that is very bitter and healthy. Next, the tofu section; the octopus section; very tiny fish that you put in "Onigiri" (Rice balls); the potted meat section (they love their potted meat here); the miso soup section; the weiner section' the prepared meal section, including sushi and fried snacks; the tea section; bread section; and, of course, the rice section (which oddly enough is very expensive here too).


If you don't bring your own bags you have to pay 3 yen for a plastic one. This is a delicate situation that we haven't figured out just yet. If you say "Iie" (No) they give you a bag. If you say "Hai" (yes), they give you a bag. The only safe way to do this is bring a bag and hand it to the cashier before she rings things up. While checking out, the cashier yells out the amount of everything you purchase just in case you want to dispute the cost (this is what we can figure anyhow). Then, you put your money in a tray (never hand it to the cashier!), the cashier double checks that you know how much you put in the tray, hits some buttons and puts your change in your hand while holding your hand from the bottom with her other hand, bows and yells out "Arigato gozaimasu" (Thank you very much) along with twelve other sentences that all end in "gozaimasu."