Ito Yokado

I am staying in my mother's apartment close to Tokyo. She lives in Abiko City in Chiba prefecture, about an hour away from Tokyo.

My mother moved here a few days ago, and I am spending time helping her unpack. She lives alone, and she wants to unload 200 boxes in a 3 bedroom apartment. I want to tell her she is crazy, and occasionally do so.

I presume Abiko city has the essence of a suburban Japanese town. There is nothing in the near vicinity save the occasional convenience store, a local train station, and a mega-market called Ito Yokado.

There is nothing like Ito Yokado in America. It is similar to Wal-Mart and Target, except for one major difference: the supermarket is their main trip driver, whereas nobody would buy chicken from Wal-Mart because it tastes good. At least I hope not.

However, the fundamental idea is similar -- plant a huge shopping area in a residential district, and everyone will go there. Some will work there, and others will go there to buy daily necessities.

The Ito Yokado near my mother's house is a 5 minute-walk. The first story comprises a supermarket, a Starbucks cafe, a food court, and a sit-down restaurant to accomodate patrons with larger wallets.

The above pasta is from the said sit-down restaurant. The sauce was rather oily, but at least the noodles were cooked al dente. This, some foccacia bread, and an espresso set me back 1030 yen, or approximately $12 dollars.

The second story is dedicated to Ito Yokado's clothing and sundry goods. The third floor comprises third party vendor stores. Most Ito Yokado locations have a bookstore, a store dedicated to children's goods, and a store that sells eyeglasses.

Anyways, my only reason for this post was to show the above photo. So there you have it, a photo of some pasta with a long-winded explanation for where it came from.