Morinaga Hi-Chew Momotaro Grape and Goyomitsuhime Fig: I used to love eating Hi-Chew fruit chews as a kid, which have a texture somewhere between a gummy and chewing gum. They come individually wrapped and usually have a milky, translucent color and are initially firm but become much softer and chewier the longer you eat them. I hadn't felt the need to buy this snack since living in Japan, but I also hadn't come across two-flavored Hi-Chews before this week and made this purchase for grape and fig flavored Hi-Chews at a local Family Mart conve... (read more) 3.0/5.0
candy japanese familymart morinaga hi-chew momotaro grape goyomitsuhime fig 3.0
Morinaga Marie Lemon Tea Cookies: Lemon tea is a common drink you can find in grocery stores in Japan, basically like iced tea in the US but generally less sweet. Marie is normally a very plain circular biscuit from Japanese food giant Morinaga (hockey puck shaped and the type you'd see labeled as "digestives") but this box contained lemon-tea flavored sandwich cookies that had a surprisingly solid herbal black tea flavor with a bit of sweet lemon acidity. The biscuits themselves are crumbly and much more like cookies than... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese coop morinaga marie lemon tea 3.5 cookies
Morinaga Strawberry aloe yogurt: I will miss aloe yogurt, with it's combination of tangy loose yogurt and chewy, juicy aloe cubes. While it seems like the soft-on-soft textures might not be a match, they are unexpectedly harmonious. This strawberry version has the typically sweet berry flavor you'd expect alongside small pieces of strawberry. I like it as much as the original -- it's definitely a standard snack you can find anywhere, but it's dependably good. 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese aeon morinaga strawberry aloe yogurt 3.5
Morinaga Milk Aloe Yogurt: Chewy juicy aloe cubes is not something I would have naturally paired with creamy tart yogurt, but the combination works surprisingly well together. Overall, the flavor of the yogurt is pretty mild, so the dominant taste comes from the aloe, which always for some reason reminds me of sprite in terms of flavor (vaguely citrus like, thirst quenching). 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese morinagamilk aloe yogurt 3.5
Mount Takao Mitarashi Dango: A couple weekends ago, I went hiking at Mount Takao, a scenic destination about an hour from Tokyo with views of Mount Fuji from the 600m tip. It's especially famous for its colorful autumn leaves, which I was very thankful to get to experience firsthand. Probably because I've been especially inactive since the start of the pandemic, it was more difficult than I expected to scale the mountain with its steep inclines and the added challenge of wearing a mask while exercising. The 22k steps... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended japanese mochi mounttakao mitarashi dango 4.0
Muji Chai: I had to go shopping for some shoes and realized that all department stores here are extremely high-end, where Theory seems to be the most affordable recognizable brand besides Muji or Uniqlo. The Muji at the top of the Akomeya mall in Shinjuku had a vending machine and I decided to give it a try. My top choice, a lychee drink with konjac nata de coco, was sold out, so I opted for a can of chai, which comes in an aluminum bottle with a twist-off cap. I liked the minimalism of the packagin... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks muji japanese tokyo chai 2.5