I likey Taiyaki

Conveyor belt sushi
Anago fish
Taiyaki!!

June 15, Day 13:

Very tired from the previous day’s activities I had to work extra hard to pull myself out of bed. The hardest part about the morning was sitting my body up, but once my feet hit the floor I felt far more awake then I thought possible. Breakfast was extra busy and we could barely get a table to sit at. At work we were back to the grind of research when a few visitors walked into the door. The leading figures of USMEF, Mr. Hanes and Mr. Haggard, greeted us and we talked about our experiences thus far. They also gave us ideas for future trips and restaurants, especially Mr. Hanes who lived in Japan for 2 years. Unknown to us, we were soon called into the meeting room with Yama-san, Mr. Hanes, Mr. Haggard, Fuseya-san, and Kato-san. I was nervous and hoped they wouldn’t ask us to summarize our findings so far because the meeting was announced with no warning. To our benefit, the meeting was about a new project they wanted us to work on. Even better, the project required us to get out of the office and visit several supermarkets and writing down what brands were present and their selling points, prices, and percentage of shelving. Yes a project!! Being dismissed we found ourselves back at our desks. For lunch we ate yet another PB&J. However, we spiced it up a little with the addition of an amazing and small salad from 7 eleven. We tried to eat at Starbucks, and near the end of our “meal” we were told we had to leave unless we wanted to purchase a drink…sooo we, the poor college students, left ha. Work was the usual business, but we were mainly excited for yet another Koji experience. We were to meet Koji at Kinshicho to visit our first 4 supermarkets. Unknowingly we were traveling to Koji’s hometown and where he lives now. Before going to our first supermarket, Koji brought us to a famous Taiyuki place. Taiyuki is a soft tapioca shell shaped like a red snapper that is filled with sweet azuki bean paste, chocolate, and caramel-like cream. It was absolutely delicious and fairly cheap. Koji randomly handed us two he got and I got a green tea tapioca shell with bean paste inside. Bean got a tapioca shell filled with a sweet caramel, butterscotch inside. Sooo good. Next we were off to 4 separate supermarkets and constantly asking Koji questions because our lack of ability to read let alone speak Japanese. After seeing the supermarkets, including a 24-hour Wal-Mart owned supermarket, we headed to dinner at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. I had wanted to go to one of these ever since arriving to Japan and Bean, who is not a fan of raw fish, thankfully agreed to go along and try the experience. Surprisingly we had a great time and fearlessly ate whatever dish we picked off the conveyor or that Koji ordered and handed to us. Our new meal items included trying small pieces of sea urchin and crab brain…yikes! Besides that it was shrimp, anago (spelling? But absolutely amazing and tasty), tuna, salmon, and saba. Bean and I decided that, at the very least, a second visit to a restaurant like this was necessary in our future. We said goodbye to Koji and promised to call him because he says he gets nervous (he is just too cute ha). Before going to our hotel I of course had to get some bubble tea that really hit the spot. Soon after arriving to the hotel I fell asleep.