Japan

Most anyone who's visited Japan and partaken in the vending machines (is it possible to visit Japan and _not_ partake in the vending machines?) should recognize these two... The former is the Kirin alcoholic beverage, and the latter is the Georgia-brand coffee...

Does anyone recall seeing either of these in the US?

Thanks,
Chris

I'll keep an eye out for you.

Thanks!

There are a couple decent Japanese grocery stores in the Toronto area (which is about an hour north of here), where I'd have hoped to at least found Deeppresso, but none of them carry any Georgia-brand coffees. Not sure if that's because there's no Canadian importer or not.

Alcoholic beverages of any sort in Canada can only be purchased from government-regulated stores, and I haven't been able to track down any of the "low-brow" Japanese alcohols such as CHU-HI.

Mitsuwa in New Jersey, which is probably as close as I can get, probably carries all sorts of fun things, but 'Joisey is an 8 hour drive...

Chris

never seen a booze dispenser here. probably against the law. i have seen in japan though but i don't drink!

What, you mean a booze dispenser like this one?

http://www.kalisiak.com/japan/movies/thats%20good%20beer.MOV

Yes, I'm sure that would be so illegal in the US it would make your head spin.

I've seen a lot of the Japanese canned coffee drinks, including Georgia branded ones, at the Uwajimaya supermarket in downtown Seattle. It's a huge Asian supermarket. Mostly Japanese, but with lots of other Asian specialties. It's more expensive than diving into the small markets in the nearby International District (aka Chinatown), but a little more Westerner-friendly. Overall, it's a gas of a place, and not to be missed by anyone with Asian food cravings or a Hello Kitty fetish...

-Shel

Yeah, I don't think that either The Beer Store or the LCBOs would carry stuff like that.

Uwajimaya looks promising, but it's on the other side of the US, and their Amazon store is a bit on the sparse side. Mitsuwa is on this side of the US, and even at the same general latitude, but even then it's still an 8 hour drive...

The Beer Store wouldn't carry CHU-HI because CHU-HI is more like a "wine cooler" than anything else. I haven't seen any Beer Stores in the Markham, ON area, but they might have the likes of Kirin, Asashi, and Sapporo. I did find a couple of LCBO's in the Markham area, but they only seem to carry a handful of sake brands, and a shochu or two. (Shochu is the Japanese equivalent of vodka, and is where the "CHU" in the name comes from.) Mostly the Markham area is Chinese, with some Korean and a few Japanese.

Chris

when i first read it i thought you were talking about the vending machines, not the beverages

I'd love to find Umeshu in Quebec or Ontario, but again, it's the same problem. Kind of a low-brow drink so it doesn't get imported. Next trip back to Japan, I'm bringing back a suitcase full!

Sapporo is owned by Sleeman now, so it's easy to find in Canada, even in grocery stores. It's "brewed under license" with the same price tag that it used to sport when it was imported from Japan.

Interesting, the LCBO's in your area don't carry plum wine that's been imported from Japan? The ones in southern Ontario do, anyway...

I haven't been to an LCBO recently, but in western NY there are liquor stores that carry the umeshu with the whole fruits in it.

Chris

In Quebec we have the SAQ (Société des Alcools de Québec) - the LCBO equivalent - they carry one type of plum wine which isn't so great. Next trip down to the US or Southern Ontario, I'll have to keep an eye open for it. Thanks for the tip!

*edit*

I should add that Ontario has a much larger Japanese population than Quebec, so probably more demand for that sort of thing.

Yeah, keep your eyes open for this one. It's fun to drink/eat. I know this is in a few liquor stores in western NY, so a more metropolitan area like Toronto should have it too:

http://www.floatingcork.com/wine_review/182
http://www.choya.com/

Not too expensive, either. Like USD$15 in the NY liquor stores. Not sure what that works out to in LCBO$, though... I would hope it's not more than like $20...


Chris

I was in little Tokyo in LA last week - didn't see any

Didn't see any, what, CHU-HI/Deeppresso? If so, thanks anyway for looking...

Chris

Deeppresso!

Gotcha. Ok, thanks anyway...

I will be back in Tokyo for a week in December (Saturday to Friday) - As always I will take a trip down to Harajuku on Sunday...
If anybody has any special requests to look out for or take photos of things I will try to help - sorry - I can't carry/collect anything..
I will be staying in Shinjuku (as always..)
I will be with locals - so I will have some Japanese local knowledge

Haven't forgotten to look - just haven't been to San Francisco on a shopping trip for a while. Been there a few times to pick up Craigslist stuff in the past couple months, but I'm usually in a hurry to get in there/back out before rush hour on those trips

One of these weekends I'll take the BART over there and poke around for a bit, see what I can come up with.

Maxsleg, you lucky dog... A friend of mine just left yesterday for a 3-week trip to Japan. He's also going to be in the Tokyo area, but I don't recall what district he's going to be staying in Roppongi, I think.

When you go, if you think of it, and if the people you're staying with are at least 40 years old, mention that you know someone that is a friend of the son of "The Destroyer"...

No problem, Neko, keep me posted! And I might end up in LA in May, so I'll be sure to hit up one or more of the Japantown places if we do go...

Chris