Have you ever felt like Alice in Wonderland when visiting a Japanese supermarket? Or found yourself spending more time than you have staring at a package, trying to figure out what the heck you’re looking at? Been there, done that. Don’t feel embarrassed — we’ve all made at least one prayer to the god of labels asking for some secret knowledge. For those of you who shop regularly and are regular label readers — either because of dietary restrictions, allergies, or things you want to avoid for your health — but find yourselves lost in Japan, here’s a quick guide to navigating the supermarket and reading Japanese food nutrition labels and ingredients.
Navigating The Japanese Supermarket
Navigating The Japanese Supermarket
Image: iStock:BLUEXHAND
Most Japanese supermarkets are not difficult to navigate as they are more or less the same as in other countries. At times, though, it’s easy to get lost when searching for the perfect soba or ingredients for that home-inspired gravy sauce. You can orient yourself by looking at the product category sections, usually separated by green banners hanging from the ceiling. Below are the names of the most common ones.
Product Labels
Now that you’ve found the proper grocery category, let’s look at the product labels! Above is the back of a bag of senbei (rice crackers) carrying a standard Japanese nutrition label.
- Top left: we see the nutritional information (栄養成分表, eiyou seibun you), which contains all the basic nutrition facts about the product, such as grams of carbohydrates, protein and fat.
- Middle left: above the bar code, we see a list of common allergens, highlighted in black for these particular rice crackers.
- Bottom right: we see a box with various information, including the ingredient list.
Here are some of the common terms you can look out for when reading Japanese food labels:
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