The tales of $100 melons are still very much alive in
Japan, and so my recent trip there, naturally, begged for another visit to a Japanese department store. Will all due respect to
Paris,
London and
New York, Japanese department stores are in a class by themselves. As far as aesthetics, class, customer service and organization go, stores like Isetan, Mitsukoshi, Seibu, Kintetsu and Daimaru are
worlds of their own. Travel to Japan is incomplete without a visit to one of these temples of commerce, from Tokyo to smaller cities like Wakayama.
And as always, life imitates art, as my recent
travel to
Osaka reaffirmed. While perusing around the clothing sections and “restaurant towns” are a treat, for me the real treat lies in the basement. In the basements are those department store supermarkets to which I always make a beeline whenever I visit Japan for a business trip or in the past, during a visa run.
Naturally Japanese department stores are a great place to get souvenirs (as in envelopes of tea, which double as protective packaging for the long flight home), and to grab something to nosh in a park or at the airport. But what always amaze me are the produce sections, which have taken fresh fruits and vegetables on a makeover far from their origins at the farms, public markets or warehouses. Some would gasp at the excessive packaging or their flawless appearance. I view the melons festooned in ribbons or pears in polystyrene corsets as charming. Like their gardens, meticulously manicured and free of imperfections, the produce sections within Japanese department stores say a lot about the country--in the most complementary way.
Flawlessness and
kaizen have their very bright points. And a high price.
Japanese yams
grapes, tastefully arranged
radishes lined up
spring onions perfectly waiting for tonight's meal
melons not worthy enough for wrapping paper and ribbon
