Regional Food Toys: Hokkaido and Nagoya

The next two sets of food toys I have are based on foods from different areas of Japan.

This is the front of the box.

And the back of the box.

The first set is from Hokkaido and is hokke, a type of mackerel.

Here’s the top view.

The second set is from Nagoya and is a shrimp roll.

And this is the top view.

Thrifted for $15.25

I got more cds—seven for $1.75. I got Brittney Spears’ Britney, Mariah Carey’s Emotions, Kelly Clarkson’s Thankful and Fiona Apple’s Tidal.

And I got some movie soundtracks, The King and I, My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Full Monty.

I also bought a black square frame for $1. One thing I should have checked before buying this was making sure the photo in it could be removed easily. The previous owner had the genius idea of gluing the photo to the glass. So after I ripped out the photo, I had to painfully remove the torn photo from the glass with water and Goo Gone. I hadn’t finished doing that when I took this photo, which is why there is not glass there.

And then I got pants. [Pause.] I hate buying pants. It’s difficult to find pants that you like and that fit properly. There are just more measurements to deal with—pants need to fit in the waist and hips and length. The length is less of a problem with skinny pants because they can just bunch up at the ankle. But other styles of pants, like boot cut or wide-leg, length definitely becomes an issue if it’s too long and needs to be hemmed.

However, with fall was around the corner, I made the effort to find and buy pants. And I succeeded. [Yay!] I found three pairs of pants. The first is a pair of black J Brand skinny pants that I got for $4.50. It has a slightly “rocker” feel to them as there are zippers on the sides, and the seaming around the knee reminds me a bit of motorcycle pants. The fabric is also a bit shiny, and I didn’t realize it until after I bought it that it’s “dry clean only”—which of course I wasn’t going to do. I hand washed them and air dried them, and they were fine.

And I got gray Not Your Daughter Jeans for $3.

Finally, I bought these Banana Republic olive green pants for $5. Sometimes there’s a tag that tells you when something was made, which is kind of interesting to check. This one says 04/Fall. So these are some 14 year old pants and still in pretty good condition.

Family Restaurant Food Toy: Katsu

I bought a lot of crap back in the day. I didn’t think of it as crap at the time. I just wanted…stuff. Things I thought were cute. Or interesting. Of funny. But they were things I never used. Things that just ended up in a box. Things I needed to get rid of.

In Japan, I bought food toys because they amused me. I thought they were silly and fun, and they showed the range of Japanese food available—from family restaurants, to sweets to regional cuisine.

However, I decided to finally get rid of these Japanese food toys that I hadn’t done anything with…some were still in their original packaging. [Sigh.] So, I decided I would take photos of them as a way give them some purpose before donating them to a thrift store.

Here’s a family restaurant toy for katsu—breaded fried pork. Family restaurants isn’t a term I generally use, but in Japan it’s a type of restaurant like a diner, much like Denny’s. Open 24 hours. Reasonably priced dishes that appeal to a wide demographic.

Here’s the front of the box.

And the back of the box. Ten toy sets in all to collect. I think the reception stand and menu in the #1 toy is pretty funny. But seriously, unless there’s a dollhouse restaurant, I’m not sure what anyone would do with any of these things.

A description of the dish and price.

I just think it’s hilarious that they included a bill as well.

Thrifted for $5.22

For $3.41. I bought this blue Adidas jacket.

I got this cool vintage travel book. And a garment bag that wasn’t interesting enough to photograph.

For $1.31, I got this cute white and navy sailor dress. It’s super simple but I like the detail around the neck. The one downside is that it’s a bit long in the bodice—as though it was made for someone much taller than me. So I think I’ll have to alter it in order to wear it.

I also got this blue with black trim Express top. It’s very simple. I liked the color and the rolled-up sleeves.

And I got two cds, Sheryl Crow and No. 1 Hit Mix for 50 cents. The No. 1 Hit Mix cd has an interesting array of songs—about half I like—like Jon Secada’s “Just Another Day Without You” and P.M. Dawn’s “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss.” There are some great 1990s songs on the cd—and I’m not going to lie, I enjoy Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” and Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back.” They’re utterly silly, and while I would never have paid full price for them back in the day when they were new, I will enjoy them now (along with the other songs here) for a quarter.