or Shopping Where You Can’t Read the Language Can Be a Little Tricky

or 

I’m at very early stages of learning three new alphabets and this will take awhile

Mystery shopping in Tokyo for me is not about grading customer service quality. Mystery shopping is about selecting a variety of products that resemble what I would expect that product to look like to then find the truth when I use that product later. Almost every shop is a mystery shop. Sometimes, it’s an adventure.

Shopping is one of the challenges of being in a country where I’m not able to read the alphabet equivalent. In Japan, this is compounded by not a lot of the packaging being transparent. At times, there may be a picture or some sort of drawing on the product to help but this could just as easily be an advertising gimmick and have nothing to do with the product itself. The Kewpie doll on mayonnaise being an example, though that is the brand. Don’t worry, I’ve known that was mayonnaise for years and it’s one of my favorites.

The challenge is compounded by products being put next to each other in an unexpected way. This is to maximize space rather than to increase sales. For example, at one supermarket I regularly frequent, there are various types of oils next to mayonnaise, next to washing detergent.

On occasion, some English is used on the labels. It can be enough to make things easier or it can add to my confusion.

There are various types of flour in small plastic bags and these range from pancake flour through to bread flour. I’m guessing one has sugar added and the other has yeast but I really have no idea since that’s not the part I can read. Today I saw one packet labeled “crystal candy”. No, I wasn’t in the pharmacy.

I haven’t baked since arriving.

There’s more sugar types than would make Willy Wonka happy. I have no idea of the difference except for the obvious differences in color. There are sugar granules and crystals like I have never seen before. I am looking forward to being able to read these characters.

Even vegetables can be a challenge. While generally the appearance is the same as what I am use to elsewhere (except where they have grown them in unusual shapes – square and pyramid watermelon as an example), I can’t tell where they have been grown or if they are organic or not. I’m guided by price for these ones.

Dairy is another experience and I have been fortunate to have successfully shopped for milk, yoghurt and cream without pouring the wrong one on my breakfast each morning.

Yes, I could use Google Translate but that would not make shopping anywhere near as entertaining as what it currently is. I’m enjoying the mystery shopping and risking shopping by picture instead.

I like the surprise.

* Thanks to U2 for the title to this post.