Mister Donut

A few months ago, I was driving through Vaughan, north of Toronto, on my way to IKEA, when I passed something that took me completely by surprise. It was a sign that had once said 'Master Donut,' in exactly the same font as in the photo here. Seems like that building was once a MisDo location that changed the name and kept most of the sign lettering, and a little thrill went through me to see it.

Mister Donut is by far the most popular donut chain in Japan. Krispy Kreme and Doughnut Plant have given MisDo a little competition in Tokyo, but with over 1,000 stores nationwide, it's unlikely that it's much for them to worry about!

I really liked Mister Donut - as a Canadian, my loyalties do lie with Tim Horton's, but it's hard to argue with an Angel Cream.

Of course, Canada no longer has Mister Donut restaurants, despite Wikipedia's claims - in fact, I haven't had any luck with them outside of Japan, even if I truly expected (and I don't) to find them anything like their branches in Asia. Though the chain was founded in the United States, most of the locations turned into Dunkin' Donuts in the early 90s. (The two franchises were actually created by brothers-in-law who broke off their partnership to begin their own chains of coffee and doughnut shops.)

In Pennsylvania and Ohio, many Mister Donut stores became known as Donut Connection, serving the same menu as Mister Donut once did (and my attempt to visit one of these on the way back to Toronto from Columbus last year failed, too!), and the Godfrey, Illinois location is supposedly still in business under the Mister Donut name, but it is the only one left.

It's a shame, because I found Mister Donut donuts a great deal lighter, fluffier and less greasy/heavy than others, plus I love iconic brands. I collected the MisDo point cards and had traded them in for a bunch of the special coloured coffee cups before I left. I hoped to obtain all six colours. As it turns out, disaster struck my cups one day, and now I only have two remaining!

On a future trip to Japan, I'm hoping to pick those up somehow. I don't think I could possibly eat the hundreds of donuts necessary to get all four via points, but I'll give it my best try, especially since to me, these donuts are head and shoulders above Tim's. Jam-filled and Bavarian cream are not my thing - but give me green tea, dark chocolate pudding, Pon du Lion or sugary, fluffy whip, and I could most certainly make a good effort toward my cups on a month-long trip!

Mister Donut, I miss you! Come back to Canada someday!

TV Japan

We're just getting things set up to move into our new apartment (in what I consider to be "midtown," but to seems native Torontonians would say "uptown") and I came across an ad I had picked up at Bon Odori last year for TV Japan:

• 24 hour broadcasting available everywhere, to bring you the latest news about Japan and the world
• Broadcasting schedule adjusted for each time zone
• Regular live news broadcasts to bring you the latest news available
• Continuous content expansion for information programming, entertainment programming, and cultural / educational programming, plus sports coverage including Grand Sumo Tournaments
• High-quality cultural programming to enhance mutual understanding and foster increased friendly exchange between Japan and the United States / Canada
• Providing “TV JAPAN” to hotels in key cities and resorts, including Hawaii, to better serve travelers on business trips or on vacation.

Well! That's very interesting, indeed. We haven't decided on a cable provider for the new place yet, if we have cable at all, so my question to you Tadaimatte readers - have you tried TV Japan, and if so, how is it? I  may have to go down to the Japan Foundation Library one of these days and check out the programming - I seem to remember you can watch it at the library for free. Hmm!

Kotatsu

I have been waiting to make this post.

I am an enormous fan of the Japanese furnishing known as a kotatsu. I own two - one big, one small; one is sort of formal and classy-looking for guests, and the other is pink-topped with a big fluffy polka-dot blanket, just the way I like 'em!

There is no possibility that I overdid it on the pink. None.

My fascination for kotatsu started well before I actually arrived in Japan, though I can't quite remember where from. (Possibly Ouran?) I have poor circulation, so I'm literally cold All. The. Time. I fell in love with the idea of kotatsu long before I had ever laid eyes on a real one - and no surprise, when I finally had one of my own, I was hooked. 

So just what is a kotatsu? 

The underside of a kotatsu

A kotatsu is a table that has a small electric heater built into the underside, and a removable tabletop. Cheaper kotatsu are often made of plastic and are light and easy to store, but classic wooden ones are still very popular. A square blanket - often two of them - is placed between the frame and the tabletop. A person then sits on the floor or on a cushion with their legs under the table. Originally, the intent was that the heat would enter through the bottom of traditional Japanese robes and exit at the neck to effectively heat the entire body - since Japanese houses depend largely on space heating and most are not insulated effectively (if at all!), a kotatsu is a cheaper way to stay warm in an inadequately-heated room. It has come to be symbolic of family life and domesticity, as families still gather around the kotatsu on winter evenings, and is a comfortable spot to read, eat, or nap on a cold day. In the summer, the blanket and electrical cords are removed, and the kotatsu becomes a normal coffee table. 

Kotatsu have their origins in the Motomachi period, the 14th century. The cooking hearth, irori, was used for heating as well as cooking and fuelled by charcoal. Over time, the irori was adapted to have a seating platform, and eventually, a quilt, which trapped the heat coming from the burner. This was called a hori-gotatsu. In the Edo period, the concept was adapted into a square shape with the wooden platform encircling it. 

The easiest way to sit at a kotatsu is with
a zaisu; a legless chair. Cushions also work!

The visual style of the kotatsu we know now came about with the use of tatami mats in homes. The charcoals were kept in a earthen pot on top of the tatami - this style is known as the oki-gotatsu. Electricity eventually replaced charcoal as the primary heating source, and the electric heaters came to be attached to the underside of the table. This is the type of kotatsu used in modern Japan today, and I doubt I would be exaggerating much to say that just about every household has at least one - in fact, we even had one at my school, in the resting room, and on the cold winter days when the students were off for New Year's break, I sometimes chose to spend the day there rather than at my desk by the (open!) window.

My apartment also came with a kotatsu, courtesy of my predecessor - it was actually I really nice one; solid wood and in fantastic shape. Unfortunately, it was a bit too tall to be comfortable for me to sit at, so I put it into storage and later gave it to a friend, who shipped it back to the U.S. (That was exciting - if you've ever pondered the logistics of packing up a twenty-pound solid wood table, well, it's something we expats need to think of at times!) I bought a brand-new one and spared no expense at this very exciting purchase - I must have checked out every major department store from September on, waiting to find my "perfect" one. Finally, I saw it at last, at LOFT in Shinsaibashi, decked out for Halloween:

This display caused me to throw excessive amounts of money at the Shinsaibashi LOFT

That was my kotatsu, I decided. I bought the one on the left, choosing a pink lacquer tabletop. The glass top was so inviting, but I knew I would be shipping the table home at the end of my contract in Japan, so I decided not to take chances. (Good thing - my table actually suffered shipping damage obvious enough that a glass top never would have survived!) I had a fleece blanket like the ones above, but later got a more traditional square one with a removable, washable cover, with the intent being that someday when I furnished a living room that wasn't entirely pink, I could sew a new cover for the blanket and make a new table-cover in a more vanilla sort of colour. As it turned out, upon arriving back in Toronto, I was lucky enough to be able to buy a bigger (double the above size), chestnut-coloured wooden kotatsu from a family selling theirs on Kijiji. It's the perfect size for guests, and I improvised with a twin-sized kakebuton for the blanket. I've watched Kijiji since, with an alert on the word kotatsu, but I've only seen two pop up in the year since I've been in Toronto.

That does mean that having your own kotatsu isn't necessarily going to be easy - the cost of importing even a cheap one is rather steep. I've seen guides to building your own online, which may be a good bet if you have the woodworking skills and the confidence to work with the heating element. (The heating elements themselves can be bought online as well!) A word of caution, though: I asked at the electronics shops in DenDen Town what needed to be done to take my kotatsu home to Canada with me, and he recommended a step-down transformer (it weighs at least 10 lbs!) for safety and to prolong my kotatsu's life, since using any appliance on the wrong voltage will wear it out faster. It was actually pretty tough to find the correct adapter, even in DenDen Town, because most Japanese appliances will work in Canada/the U.S. just fine. In the case of a heater, though, you want to be safe rather than sorry! I've seen these transformers for sale at Mits here in Toronto, or you could probably pick one up online.

Image via Wikimedia Commons
In case you were wondering what
a non-pink kotatsu looked like!

You can also buy yourself a kotatsu and the accessories online, of course. J-Life is based in the U.S. and they sell elegant, classic tables. Rakuten, on the other hand, is a little harder to purchase from (watch out for that shipping!) but they have colourful, modern kotatsu and kotatsu-gake. Personally, I like all types - the classic wooden style, the colourful tabletops and blankets with a ton of "pop," and even the lightweight retro plastic ones like the table we had at school. It was very 80s, like the rest of the room, and that was one of the things I loved about it.

So, are you ready to settle down for a cold winter under the kotatsu? I've found my perfect method: a puzzle mat (for comfy sitting and laying down) with a nice fuzzy rug laid over it. 100x100cm table with adjustable height extenders. Downy, fluffy kotatsu-gake blanket with a washable futon cover so I can change out the patterns and colours as I want them. Heat turned on a nice medium-low, and a small zaisu legless chair with padding on the back. A cup of tea. Earl grey - hot. Maybe a nice pot of sukiyaki, too!

I hate winter, but my kotatsu makes it bearable. ♥

Game Center CX

Cover of the Retro Game Master/Game Centre
CX DVD collection

I am so, so excited for the English-subtitled DVD release of Game Center CX (Retro Game Master), which ships out to pre-orderers on Amazon tomorrow! (Or, if you're in Canada, Amazon.ca is actually carrying it for $10 cheaper, to my surprise!)

This amazing television show was a big thing for me during my last year in Japan. It's been running for almost ten years, but I actually didn't hear about it until it was in its eleventh season! Comedian Arino Shinya, one-half of the famous Osakan team Yoiko, is the host and star of Arino's Challenge, what was once a small segment but quickly grew into a one-hour television show about retro video games. Arino, a fan of games of all types, looks like your typical middle-aged salaryman and while he struggles often to get through even easy games, is incredibly tenacious - this man somehow beat Ninja Gaiden, but took hundreds of lives while playing Super Mario 3. 

I originally caught wind of this show on YouTube and though I didn't have the channel that it aired on, I rented the DVDs, one by one. It's a very popular show - our nearest Tsutaya had gaps in its library every time I went. (I had to bike 35 minutes away that first time just to get Volume 1!) And when I was sure that I was going to watch regularly, I went ahead and got FujiTV One, FujiTV Two and FujiTV NEXT on my beloved SkyPerfect satellite dish. 

It's funny to look at it that way now, but leaving behind the brand-new episodes of Game Center CX was a heartbreaker when I left Japan! There are ways to see some of these, of course, thanks to the Internet, but there was something special about sitting down on Thursday nights to see a brand-new episode right when it aired. My friends and I would watch the raw episodes over Skype as a group, with me providing scant real-time translations while Arino provided the laughs. Many times I would come home from work and head straight to Skype to pick out an episode with the others to watch that day. This was three years ago - well before GCCX was known by many English-speakers.

Luckily for me, since coming home, the series has gained a little more popularity in the west. The Nintendo DS game didn't make much of a splash when it was localized, unfortunately, but I feel that was the timing - if the show had come out in North America first, maybe it would have been different. Gaming website Kotaku even aired 12 episodes on their website in 2011 under the title of “Retro Game Master,” though for me these were a massive disappointment - the episodes had everything except the main game challenge taken out, and the dubbing was terrible. The translations were dubious at best and many details left out. 

However...what Kotaku did do was bring a lot of attention to the show, and that's why we're now getting those episodes, overhauled, on DVD by Discotek Media and translated with subtitles by a fan with genuine passion for the series!

Sadly, the show still can't be released intact - it doesn't contain many segments due to licensing issues, though the Japanese DVD releases omitted these as well. Still, even if it can't be perfect, I am so ready to support this release, just to bring more Game Center CX fans to the world and encourage more DVDs down the line. GCCX will always be a nostalgic reminder of my hobbies in Japan!

So get out there and buy it! If you're a fan of video games at all, you don't want to live even another week without seeing this show!

Home for the Holidays? Maybe Not

It's pretty much spot-on the right time to book for the Christmas season...but flights to Tokyo are still $1300 round-trip from Toronto. I've seen a fairly unchanging flight market since I arrived in T.O. (it's never been less than $1100 via Air Canada, unlike when I was living in Japan and caught a few Golden Week tickets for $800 RT) and sad to say that these inflated prices are not going anywhere. Most likely, it's a result of the very high yen prices that we've seen in the past two years.

So what can you do to get to Japan affordably? Well, this trick isn't well-suited to the holiday season, because even though not as many people travel over Christmas (they're ready to go by New Years!), but if you're flexible with your dates and times for your trip, how about trying a Japanese budget travel agency? I used to book flights with the Osaka branch of No.1 Travel, and got good deals with them. You do, however, have to be careful that the taxes and fees (which are still displayed separately by Japanese agencies) don't add up to more than the Canadian version would have cost. Have a look:

Oh my!

Now, looking at Vancouver, that's a cheap price (and they offer Toronto, it just isn't popular enough right now to be on the front page). That fuel surcharge of 47,000 yen, however, is going to be brutal. I wouldn't recommend this particular "special" deal. If you're in the right place at the right time, however, you can get some fantastic prices. I picked up a one-way China Airlines flight via Taiwan on very short notice for 57,000 yen including taxes and fees. If you're vigilant and flexible, you may be able to score just as good a deal!

More on the Zojirushi Sale

I know I've already tweeted about this today, but I'm so pleased to actually see Amazon Canada promoting a rice cooker sale!

I bought my own rice cooker from Amazon U.S. because the price difference was quite severe at the time, but it's much closer with this sale. Finding one locally just wasn't going to happen - after coming back from Japan and going a few months with a $35 Dominion rice cooker, I resolved to buy a proper rice cooker the next time I was in the U.S., and have not been disappointed. My rice cooker sings to me and bakes cakes.

You can also buy electric pots during the sale, which, if you remember my article on tea, I can no longer live more than five minutes without. Electric pots are so expensive to buy no matter whether you're looking local or online, and here in Toronto they're more often than not programmed in Korean or Chinese rather than English/Japanese. If you've been thinking about picking one up, you're probably not going to find one in English for less than $100, and Zojirushi is the best of the best, so why not?

...and now I think I could go for some tea, myself!

B-Side Label

Which way!?

In Japan, I often spent a lot of time wandering big department stores like LOFT and Tokyu Hands, just looking at all the things for sale. While we have plenty of department stores here in Canada, none of them had the sort of novelty value of Tokyu Hands!

One thing that regularly caught my eye when shopping was the display of "B-Side Label" stickers at both of the above stores. B-Side is a brand of pop art stickers with a wide range of artists. Their stickers are often music-oriented, but I loved in particular the designs that took familiar things (like the Japanese highway sign above) and changed them. The "Warning" labels are also quite funny. This was a type of art humour that was much harder to find in Japan (I suppose since it was considered punkish or underground), and I loved looking through the racks of stickers whenever I visited LOFT or Tokyu Hands.

Many of B-Side Label's designs are written in English, so you can check out most of their designs at their online shop, right here.

My Love Affair With Uniqlo

The first time I walked into a Uniqlo store, I knew it was over.

I've never been a brand shopper - in fact, my clothing shopping mantra has usually been "get in, get out, I don't have to try it on do I!?" And the cheaper the better. Up until the point where I stepped into Yodobashi Camera's 7th floor Uniqlo store, I didn't care about my clothes or where I bought them. Now, I'm stockpiling money to finance a shopping trip to New York City, specifically so that I can go to Uniqlo.

My students teased me about this sometimes - hard to say whether that was because Uniqlo clothes are inexpensive, or simply because I bought 90% of my summer wardrobe there. (Hey, I didn't really need a summer wardrobe on the East Coast, so why bother spending money for clothes you'll get three weeks' wear out of?) I didn't mind, because I was so thrilled to have found the awesome place that is Uniqlo. Short for "Unique Clothes," this store delivers everything in bright colours at great prices, with an amazing turnover rate for fashions. If I found something I liked but was a bit expensive, I could usually go back six weeks later and get it for 50% off. Their colour range is so dynamic and it was easy to find 'basic' items, which is great when you like layering. The tank tops and legging offerings were fantastically diverse. And the one-piece dresses!

They've been expanding rapidly, so if you're lucky enough to live in any other country but Canada, please get yourself to this store. And take me with you!

Automatic Takoyaki Maker

I cannot believe this is a real thing!

Perfectly cooked!

If you remember my post from a few weeks ago about my undying love for takoyaki, you'll likely remember that I mentioned making it from scratch can be a little tedious, unless you have the patience to sit and watch the grill and turn each takoyaki on time. (This is likely why most people have takoyaki parties, so that they can enjoy themselves  together and divide up the work!) 

However, a website called JapanTrendShop apparently sells automatically rotating grills to help you with the difficult parts! The Takoyaki Factory Ton Ton has a motor that flips the takoyaki over as it cooks to make perfectly-shaped balls at home. A little expensive, but the kit even includes a long-stemmed pot for easy batter pouring, the special brush to oil the grill, and the skewers. If I did not already have the electric takoyaki grill I brought home from Japan, I would be all over this!

Honto.jp

Mail call!

The world has gotten smaller, but it certainly hasn't gotten any easier for Canadians trying to buy Japanese books. Since coming home, I've spent considerably more money on shipping reading material to me than I am on the reading material itself...and the selection is very hit-or-miss when I do find an online business (usually American) that will send me my books affordably. On a few occasions, I've bought from Bookweb, the online version of Kinokuniya U.S.; as well as Amazon.jp, to great expense. However, I may have found a great solution this time with Honto, a Japanese site that offers at-cost shipping abroad. The two books I purchased from them cost me ¥800 in shipping; pretty much exactly what I would have spent had I walked down to the Japan Post office in Osaka myself, and I paid the cover price on the books rather than the import markup. Great deal! Kinokuniya U.S. is fast and has plenty in stock, but paying double the cover price AND their pricey shipping to Canada is rough, so I'm thrilled to find Honto. Just click on the tab for International Shipping when it asks you to input your address, and away you go!

Any other readers have suggestions for Japanese online bookshops? I'd love to hear them!

Crazy About Takoyaki

Takoyaki and other delights in the foodcourt of the Hanshin Umeda building

As someone who called Osaka home and considers themselves to be as Osakan as a foreigner can get both in manner and speech, I have of course been instilled with a love of takoyaki, those delectable fried doughy balls filled with octopus and topped with shaved bonito flakes. (Not everyone gets it - ex-boyfriend referred to this favourite as "tako-yucky.") It didn't help much that there was a tiny mom-and-pop shop 15 seconds from my front door, and the very first thing my co-workers did when they brought me to my apartment was set me up with ice cream and takoyaki from this place.

Luckily, there are decent octopi offerings to be had here in Toronto, but I know I'm very lucky to have it.  I'll almost always buy fresh takoyaki made from a restaurant before making it myself, since it's a lot of work! Just in case, though, I brought home my own takoyaki and okonomiyaki kits when I left Osaka, including picks, spatulas, mayonnaise container and even the electric grill. 

The Tako King is famous in Amemura, "American Village" in Osaka.

Not everyone is so fortunate, of course, and at some point I'll have to replace some of my supplies. Locally, you can buy takoyaki and taiyaki grills and the flour at J-Town, but with none of the frills, of course. For those wanting something more high-tech, or living outside of the city, you may want to check out J-List's products for making affordable at-home takoyaki. Seriously, everyone - takoyaki party. You won't regret it.

Tenso 1,000 Yen Shipping Time!

You might remember that in my post about my crazed lust for royal milk tea, I mentioned that I was able to take advantage of a great coupon from Tenso to get the goods. Well, I should probably be charging Rakuten for all the free advertising at this point, but that coupon is available again, until June 28. If you've been waiting to buy something on Rakuten but holding back because of the shipping fees, it's probably a good time to move!

Tsuyu, the Rainy Season

Yosakoi performance in Kyobashi

Rainy here again, today.

The rainy season in Japan is about to start now that it's June, and funnily enough, we're having our own "rainy season" here in Toronto. (Kicked off by the inconvenient, yet fantastically funny, Union Station flood last week.) The rainy season is one of the things that I don't miss about Japan. While I actually love rain and  there's a ton of charm in going for a stroll in it (plus, it always fell straight down, unlike the sideways rain of my hometown on the East Coast), the long rainy season was pretty awful. Laundry never dried right, and I hated going to school by bicycle in the wet, and when I woke up on a rainy tsuyu day I would have to quickly get ready and head out to the train station a full 20 minutes earlier than normal to avoid having to bike. On the bright side, this gave me lots of opportunities to walk back after school with my students or with my co-workers - S and I enjoyed many Friday melon pan runs like this. I also was able to own a contingent of adorable umbrellas that I was forced to leave behind when I returned to Canada. Had I known how expensive umbrellas were here (again, sideways rain, so there was no point in owning one before I came to Toronto), I would have brought them all home.

A family of umbrellas

Another positive to the rainy season was that, with that predictable weather, the underground shopping complexes and shōtengai, covered shopping streets, became a big draw for me - of course, and for hundreds  of thousands of other Osakans! It's likely that tsuyu is one of the reasons that we have such an extensive network of covered areas. There was something pretty fantastic about being able to stroll for kilometres without having to face the elements, but still being outside, in the case of the covered shopping streets. As for the underground, I know I would never have been able to explore the tunnels of Umeda and Namba nearly as thoroughly if the draw of a sunny day was just outside. I wish the PATH system here was even 1/10th as efficient and exciting as the shōtengai of Osaka!

Namba NanNan, one of Osaka's first underground complexes.

Japanese Supermarkets In Toronto

Homemade somen! Hungry?

Before I moved to Toronto, I used to come to the city to visit friends and I'd almost always take the opportunity to stock up on all things that were expensive and imported back home. We had a wonderful local Asian grocery at one point, but it never had quite the selection that I could find in Toronto.

I've since had the opportunity to visit many other stores that stock Japanese ingredients, to the point where I can cook most of my favourites. Follow this post for the best ingredients to be had in the city!

(Last Updated: September 25, 2012)

J-Town

3160 Steeles East / 404 & Steeles

J-Town, should you be close enough to access it, should always be your first stop for authenticity. This shopping complex encompasses a supermarket, restaurant, bakery, fishmonger, cafe, izakaya, kitchenware store, cosmetics store, beauty salon...it is, essentially, a tiny Japanese mall. The prices are consistent with what you might find at Sanko, though slightly higher than the Korean grocery stores that stock Japanese products. Still, for the experience - especially for expats fighting homesickness - this place is the Promised Land. It's also the only store I know of in the city that sells melon pan, fresh or otherwise.

Access it by the 53 Steeles East bus at Finch Station - the stop you want is "3381 Steeles Avenue East," immediately after Woodbine Avenue.

Sanko

A hard day's shoppin'

730 Queen Street West / Queen & Bathurst

Sanko is the more well-known of the two purely-Japanese shops in town, open since 1968 and run by a local family. For downtowners, it is a much more sensible choice than J-Town, especially as it has a fantastic stock of both drygoods and fresh ingredients, including burdock root and shiso leaves. Rice balls and takeout obentou available too. Sanko also carries an extensive stock of Japanese dishware; priced for imports but of excellent quality.

Access it via the 511 Bathurst or 501 Queen streetcars.

T&T

222 Cherry Street / Cherry & Lakeshore Blvd E [Toronto]

1 Promenade Circle / Bathurst  &  Centre [Thornhill]

9625 Yonge Street / Yonge  &  Weldrick [Richmond Hill]

9255 Woodbine Avenue / Woodbine  &  16th [Markham]

5661 Steeles Avenue East / Steeles & Markham [Markham]

7070 Warden Avenue / Steeles & Warden [Markham]

715 Central Parkway West / Central Pkwy W & Mavis [Missisauga]

T & T is Canada's largest Asian supermarket chain - they carry a mix of things Japanese, Chinese, Korean and others. There are six locations in the GTA alone (though only one in the downtown area) and their selection of fresh ingredients is pretty much unrivalled. Craving nabe? This is your place. How about 2L bottles of Kirin milk tea? Right here. Since they are a supermarket rather than a mom and pop store, you're also much more likely to find better prices and sales at T&T, as long as they carry what you seek.

The Cherry Street and Promenade Circle locations are the closest subway-accessed stores. For Cherry, take the 72 bus from Front Street in front of Union Station and get off at Commissioners Street. For Promenade, take the 160 bus from Wilson Station (extra fare required past Steeles - this is walkable in 20 minutes if you prefer) or the 77/88 from the Finch Go Bus Terminal.

Galleria

7040 Yonge Street / Yonge & Steeles

865 York Mills Road / York Mills & Don Mills

While I love T&T, Galleria is my go-to store for its location and prices. Their Yonge location is a 5-minute bus ride from Finch Station (no extra fare required), and they are open 24 hours. They're also the only store in town that carries House brand tomato hayashi rice roux! This is a Korean supermarket, so the selection is not perfect, but they carry a great range of Japanese snacks, condiments and fresh ingredients. The sushi, while affordable, is bland but the small food court the Galleria has boasts some good homestyle Japanese fare.

Access the Yonge location via the 53 Steeles East or 60 Steeles West buses from Finch Station.

Access the York Mills location via the 95 York Mills or 122 Graydon Hall buses from York Mills Station.

PAT

675 Bloor Street West / Bloor & Christie [Toronto]

63 Spring Garden Avenue / Yonge & Sheppard [Toronto]

1973 Lawrence Avenue E / Lawrence & Warden [Toronto]

333 Dundas Street E / Dundas & Cliff [Missisauga]

7289 Yonge Street / Yonge & Clark [Thornhill]

This is a great Korean supermarket that has convenient locations downtown and uptown, great prices and a small selection of Japanese goods. The bottled drinks are generally more expensive elsewhere, as are the boxed curry rouxes, and for fresh veggies, with T&T so far away PAT's Central market is the best you could hope for. They also sell top-quality, inexpensive Korean-made tofu that is far better than anything I have purchased at a Western supermarket in this city. Perfect for hiyayakko!

Access the Bloor and Spring Garden locations via Christie and Sheppard stations, respectively. Both are within 5 minutes' walk of the subway.

Lucky Moose Food Mart

393 Dundas Street W / Dundas & Spadina

This Chinese supermarket carries a vast amount of teas and noodles, as well as your standard Japanese pantry items at good prices. The location is perfect for anyone south of Bloor. They have a great seafood selection, but the shining star is the produce - I haven't seen anywhere else where I can get two kabocha for three dollars! Keep an eye out for their good, and frequent, sales!

Access is via St. Patrick Station.

Btrust
1105 Wilson Avenue / Wilson & Keele [Toronto]
1177 Central Parkway W. / Burnhamthorpe & Central Parkway W [Missisauga]
Btrust is probably not going to be the first choice of Asian supermarket anyone travelling via TTC - and if you live in the Keele/Wilson vicinity, you almost certainly already know about it. Still, this is an acceptable option for those living on the northwestern side of the Yonge-University-Spadina Line, with its good selection of vegetables, tofu and meat. You'll find that their selection of Japanese staples is lacking, but if you're not choosy about brands, you may find what you need here - and some affordable snacks as well! Keep an eye out in the bakery section for their packaged castella cakes, just like the ones you might pick up at Lawson back in Japan.

Access the Toronto location via the 96 Wilson bus from York Mills or Wilson Station.

Hmart

5319 Yonge Street / Yonge & Church Avenue
5545 Yonge Street / Yonge & Finch

9737 Yonge Street / Yonge & Major Mackenzie

Hmart, a Korean convenience/grocery store, has a few locations uptown worth checking out for their selection of Japanese snack foods and sauces. You can pick up mirin for very cheap here, on occasion, and they often carry a bigger selection of tonkatsu sauces than the Japanese grocery stores!

The Finch location is about two minutes' south of Finch Station and the Church Avenue location is another ten minutes' walk south of that.

Mits

2 Dundonald Street / Yonge & Wellesley

I'm never sure how I feel about Mits, but it belongs here at least on the basis of being Japanese-run. This corner store has a small selection of mostly-overpriced items, but they also stock reasonably-priced and up-to-date rental DVDs, and offer Kuroneko services. In a pinch I will pop in and buy a lemon tea or check what's on their clearance table, but I don't do a lot of shopping here.

Walk north on Yonge from Wellesley Station. It's not easy to spot right away but it's visible from Yonge.

Sandown Market
826 Brown's Line / Browns Line and Evans Avenue [Etobicoke]
4385 Sheppard Avenue East / Sheppard E and Brimley [Scarborough]
I haven't been to either branch of this shop personally, but I'm told it sells Japanese food almost exclusively and the Etobicoke location at least is very convenient and run by a very nice Japanese couple.

The Scarborough location can be reached via the 85 Sheppard East bus from Don Mills Station, while the 123 Shorncliffe bus from Kipling Station or the 15 Evans bus from Royal York Station will take you to the Etobicoke branch.

Pacific Mall
4300 Steeles Avenue East / Steeles and Warden [Markham]
The PMall, as it's affectionately known to Torontonians, is a Chinese mall just north of the city limits with a huge number of tiny stores packed into it. While the grocery shopping isn't great, there are not one but two large Japanese candy stores located here, with plenty of other options for Japanese snacks elsewhere in the shopping centre. Yum!

Market Village
4390 Steeles Avenue East / Steeles and Warden [Markham]
Market Village, large but always overshadowed by its oversized neighbour the Pacific Mall, has a few Japanese candy options, though price and selection are almost identical selection to the PMall. Should you require cooking implements, however, Market Village does feature an enormous branch of Japanese home goods store One's that is worth checking out.
*Market Village is slated to close in 2014.

That's it for now - these are all the big players. If you know of one that's slipped by my notice, please comment and I'll add it to the list!