Sometimes when I'm in a rut, one of my favorite places to go is to a Japanese grocery store! It sounds funny to think of shopping for food when I need a change of pace, but what I find are aisles upon aisles of random foods, snacks, and random home decor items that are different than those I normally come across. Really, any sort of ethnic grocery store does wonders for me to get out of my element and see things differently (it's like traveling to another country without going too far!).
P.S. I loved these snacks I found on a recent trip to Little Tokyo, so we had to make a fun image to show them off!
{Creative Direction by Joy Cho, photo by Casey Brodley, production and styling by Julia Wester. Paper cups and plate from Oh Happy Day shop.}
One of my fave Japanese stores is DAISO!! Gotta love everything that’s $1.99 🙂
love this idea!
The food from the grocery store is so cute + it looks delicious I can see how it’s an awesome source of inspiration!
What a great idea!! Beautiful picture as always! You make those snacks look yummy!
Alina
http://www.eclecticalu.blogspot.com
Dear Joy ! I really love your blog and your perspective on life ! Thank you !
That’s such a fun idea! I loved going to the Asian Mart when we lived in Utah, I’ll have to see what’s available to us in Georgia!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Hello! I love going to Daiso and I never thought of going there for inspiration! Thank you for sharing. I love you…
So cute! I have been living in Japan for 7.5 years and the convenience stores and Daiso never get old! Although now I’m kind of like, no more rice crackers, give me some chips and salsa! 😉 When I go back home to visit, the supermarkets in America are so exciting to me now (especially Trader Joes and Target!! Could you imagine life without them?). A whole aisle dedicated to cheese? A whole aisle dedicated to ice cream?? America is pretty awesome, too. 🙂
Nijiya is pretty good, and I love that they do so much stuff as organic. You should go to Marukai, though, if you haven’t. It’s so huge and way more inspiration–I had no idea you could buy so much Japanese import stuff (food+beauty, etc.). I immediately felt less homesick for Japan after going with my cousin to Marukai in Gardena.
I couldn’t agreewith you more. I go to Japantown at least once a week & find all kinds of inspiration from the grocery. That picture makes me so happy!
Very true. Don’t they turn pages from the left side of the book and drive on the right side of the car? A whole different kind of perspective. Sort of related: Sometimes I’ll make myself do something with my non-dominant hand just to see what happens and to strengthen that other hemisphere.
Japan has the cutest packaging, prints, and designs! Such a great source of inspiration!
yes!!!!!!! Marukai is a quarterly trip in our house. We spend an hour every time we go!