Food and last minute

I will be in Japan in two weeks.

I am somewhat of a picky eater, and I have never eaten Japanese food. I love noodles and rice however, and I would like to try sushi.

-Just how easy will it be to find shops with noodles or rice? And are there many little food stands outside? (around Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka)

- Can you get small orders of sushi, like a couple of pieces? or at food stands? I am afraid that I may not like it, and I wouldn't want to offend.

-If I was unable to find a Japanese restaurant that I liked, I would feel rude to go to a western restaurant, but should I feel rude?

-Finally, can someone please name some last minute things I should do or things I should remember to bring to Japan? I'm talking about the things that you can't think of, when you try to think of them!

Also I just want to thank Uji, and everyone else who has helped me on this forum. You guys helped me make this trip reality. Thanks.

Nathan, Nathan!!!! click on Japan A-Z at th top of the page, then click on the food section. Rice is the #1 food in Japan and noodles are #2! restaurants serving these food are everywhere!. there are also Japanese versions of Western restaurants and even authentic Western places (more expensive). There are lots of these restaurants and, obviously, more Japanese than tourists go there. You can order sushi by the piece but it is difficult, unless they have a menu in English. One suggestion is to go to a restaurants that has models of the food in the window and order a bento or combination. it comes on a tray and there is a salad, a bowl of plain rice, some tempura and/ or teriyaki, a few pieces of sushi. Department stores usually have several restaurants on the upper floor and a food floor in the basement where you can buy many prepared dishes, including sushi and eat it in your hotel room or on a bench in a park. You can also find food in convenience stores like 7-11, Lawton, Family Mart etc. 7-11 also has ATM machines. As for stuff like toiletries, film or digital cards, underwear, socks?? you can by anything you need in Japan.

Go to a sushi-go-round restaurant; there, individual plates of sushi will go past you on a conveyer belt, and all you have to do is take one that looks appealing. They have different prices according to the color/pattern of plate they are on, and once you are done, they will count your plates and tell you how much you owe. No need to order anything, just wait for the sushi to come to you.
These type of sushi restaurants are quite common, and it's also quite common to go by oneself and eat quickly and leave, no big ceremony to it.
Many noodle shops have very inexpensive dishes that are delicious, and some have ticket machines by the door at which you buy tickets for what you want to eat, then give them to the guy at the counter. These are sometimes only labelled in japanese, but sometimes either have pictures or english.
There are also quick places that the Japanese people love, like a chain called Pepper Lunch, where you buy tickets and they bring you meat, rice & veggies on a sizzling plate. You cook it yourself at the counter.
Plastic food is very common and people are quite accustomed to people having to point to it.
No worries. There's plenty of food.

Just go to a big dept store around the city go to the basement food hall and you can just walk around you will be offered lots of things to try. Then what ever you like buy some!
Also the big stations have good fast noodle bars just go to the ticket machine look at pictues of what you want to try and then buy that ticket. hand it over at the counter and then a minute later they hand you back your order.

Asking if it's easy to find shops with noodles and rice in Japan is like asking if it's easy to find curry in India- of course it is!

Food stalls aren't so big here, it's not like south east Asia that way except at festivals. You will hardly be able to turn around without spotting a noodle restaurant of some kind though.

If you want to go into an Italian restaurant (or Indian, or Chinese- there is a huge variety here) go ahead- it will be full of Japanese people anyway and will no doubt have some interesting Japanese variations of familiar food that is worth trying- even McDonalds has a teriyaki burger and oolong tea here.

Thanks for the replies.

I have a question about sake.
I am only 19, but would I still be able to get a bottle of sake? Can I get in trouble since I am underage?

It's not for me, as I don't drink, but a freind asked me to get him some.

Thanks.

has been asked so many times. Here's my answer:
It is extremely rare for people to get carded while buying alcohol. Sure the law says 20 years and over, but my younger Japanese friends have bought beer many times at convenience stores and bars with no problems. Being a foreigner, they actually might see you older than you really are which makes things even easier. Especially if you can grow a beard.

when your friend buys a bottle of sake, keep in mind that in Japan they don't call it "sake". Sake is just the general name for all kinds of alcohol.
There's two different kinds: nihon-shu which is from rice and shochu which is from mostly potatoes.

Shochu can be made from rice, too. Or sweet potatoes. The main difference between the two is that shochu is distilled - the alcohol content is around 25% or so. What we call sake, nihon-shu, is not distilled, and the alcohol content is closer to that of wine. 12 - 14%. Very very different beverages.

I just wanted to chime in about the food. Even the pickiest of eaters can find something to eat in Japan. I can only speak for Tokyo, but you should not have any problem finding something to eat. I can understand that maybe it might be a little intimidating to just walk into a restaurant, but if you stick to places with the models of the food outside, then you'll be ok. The staff would expect you to just point at your menu choice. I would say that if you're not feeling so bold, you can't go wrong with the department store restaurants. Each store has plenty of choices and they all have the food models. While eating at restaurants every meal might add up, you also can buy bento at a convenience store or grocery store. Perhaps you can buy some bento with sushi there, and eat it alone in your room. That way, if you don't like it, then you won't feel bad. Then you can always go to a sushi restaurant and watch all the dishes march by on the conveyor belt! I'm not a big sushi person myself, but I think you'll find any tuna, red tail, or yellow tail fairly mild in terms of fishiness and pretty tasty.