If you want to buy me something:
As blogged by Trends in Japan, the あめdeわたあめ or ame-de-watame or literally “cotton candy from candy” is an at home cotton candy maker using – your own, personal, choice candy! Feed it a hard candy, any flavour, and it melts it down and spins it into floss.
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We needed games to play on our trip so before heading to shibu onsen I hit the store that has everything you need to be cool and impress your friends and found this groovy novelty jenga. “Gum avalanche” it is called and the blocks mimic packs of Lotte brand gum – Black Black, Cool Mint, and Green Gum.
Now that I have you here, I can go off about mundane things. Like my 薬 (kusuri) (medicine) buying experience tonight. On the way home from the trip, this was last Monday, I was sitting on the train, did two stretches and then something in my upper back snapped. The next morning I couldn’t lift myself from bed. Had to steamroll my body over the edge and stand up using the bed to support me. That was a hard day at work. It was getting gradually better over the week and then on Friday morning, I couldn’t get out of bed again. The pain woke me up this morning as well but for most of the day it has been okay…possibly because I have not spent too much time at a computer.
Anyway – oh…sorry…actually I didn’t intend to write six sentences on my pain. I’m going to be horrible when I’m 80. Like, posting form shots of my hunch back so you can feel how crooked I have become on your solids display.
I went to the drug counter and explained my problem and the woman recommended some medicine. I was suspicious though. It was not medicine from behind the counter and the packages surrounding it were labeled with many As and Bs and Cs and Es. Was she trying to sell me vitamins? 1750円 vitamins? Yes.
I told her I wanted something stronger. In my head I was thinking that I wanted knock-me-out medicine that I could take tonight and wake up twelve hours later with a drool stain on my pillow from which I could forecast what they will serve in the cafeteria on Monday. She recommended that I go to the hospital but I wasn’t going to buy that cause I could see shelves of possible relief behind that counter. I told her that I would like to try medicine now and if I still felt pain in a few days, I would go to the hospital. There was some more discussion and hesitancy to go for things behind the counter but then she finally realized I wanted something strong and now and she asked me if my stomach was good. Yes, it is. The hesitancy to sell stronger medicine, even when stocked, is interesting.
I walked out with a pack of Ringl. Just took one of the little turquoise capsules and thinking about how unsatisfying vitamins would be right now. Which is funny because it is not even about effectiveness – it is satisfaction. Like I need a box with warnings and an ingredient list with many words I don’t know. It is unknown territory, mystical, and I feel more satisfied because to make my pain go away, it must take magic.
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Today I my Japanese teacher in one of our usual spots – FANCL Garden. FANCL is a cosmetic/beauty company in Japan that has branched out (I think) to some other lifestyle stuff and they have a cafe in Lumine, a department store attached to Yokohama station. The cafe serves Chaya Macrobiotic food – and coffee. It just occurred to me that – is coffee macrobiotic? I guess if you drink it with soy milk and maple powder it is. Yes – everything in the cafe is sweetened with maple powder not sugar because it is better for you………………………………………………?
Anyway, the coffee tastes like acid so today we ordered ice cream or “ice kutte”. Made without dairy products, eggs, or processed sugars (except for the maple powder maybe?). It was actually pretty good. I had the strawberry – very fruity, no fake sweetener tastes, no fake thickener tastes – I would order it again.
What I found interesting was how it was served: on a plate, in its plastic container, with the lid placed on the side, brand name facing up. It reminded me that is it important that I know I am eating Chaya Ice Kutte, recommended by the staff at FANCL Garden according to a sticker placed on the menu.
Guess what I did on Sunday? This is a hint…
I bought a new camera : )
PS. The picture is of my dino friend at work. I picked him up as a souvenir from a udon restaurant near the office. The restaurant was in an old house and there was a basket of little toys to pick from before you leave…kind of like when you go to the dentist.
(This was stewing in my pot but Eric’s comment on a flickr picture pushed this post forward so Eric, this is sort of in response to, discussion related to your comment.)
This is MUJI, a lifestyle chain in Japan. MUJI is short for 無印良品 (Mujirushi Ryōhin) or “no brand quality goods”.
They sell products for life: clothing, furniture, stationary, bicycles, food, and so on, that are “not branded”. Minimalist design and color palette; dark blue, white, creams, brown, black with possible hints of burgundy but I think only on the labels.
MUJI started in Japan but has expanded to other corners of the world. I don’t know the store counts in other countries, but in Japan they are everywhere – 285 stores. I have two within a 15 minute walk from my home. All of them have the same look, feel, and repetitive jingle (which is weirdly abrasive amongst the simplicity of everything else).
MUJI sells “non-branded” products but it has become a brand, it is a brand. Their clothes may have no logos but often you see someone in the train and they screen MUJI kid. Did they plan that from the beginning? (That MUJI would be the no-brand brand.)
In his comment, Eric brought up the book “Pattern Recognition”, where the main character is allergic to logos and brands. Eric – does she really shop at MUJI? I read that book a while ago but I can’t remember whether or not they mentioned MUJI.
The best is MUJI food. because prior to MUJI I didn’t think of food as too branded. Of course it is in a huuuuuge way…but…I don’t feel that aware of brands while grocery shopping. (k I wrote that and then I thought about all of the ways I am totally influenced by the brand of food items but…) …MUJI made me think strongly about food fashion.
I would love to meet an only MUJI person.
