Natto Rationing
(I thought about titling this "yes, we have no natto"...) For those who don't know, natto is a Japanese delicacy made of fermented soy beans. They taste OK but have an odor best left to those who can't smell. Given the earthquake and resultant blackout, natto fermentation was disrupted and entire batches of it had to be thrown out. The process is sufficiently long enough that yesterday, when I took this picture at a grocery store in Kitahiroshima, almost no natto was available despite it being ten days after the earthquake. The signs are saying the store will sell only one package (which comes with three small containers) of natto per sale. (No government rationing of any kind occurred during the minor shortages and blackout - all rationing was done by individual stores based on what they had on hand.) Just this evening, I saw a news segment on a local TV station that showed at least one store in Sapporo got a large shipment of natto - there were many happy customers who filled their shopping baskets with natto. So I suppose the great natto shortage is at an end.
Actually, tofu is also being rationed (at least it was at this store) due to a long processing timeline. Other grocery stores seemed to have sufficient quantities of tofu but we didn't pay attention to the natto situation there...
Note how dark it looks in this store - they were trying to conserve power. The earthquake took out four of four turbines at the main Hokkaido power plant (one may be restarted tomorrow) and so there is voluntary (with lots of peer pressure on compliance) power savings - lots of stores have dimmed their lights, for example.
We are doing the same by using propane gas for cooking more than our microwave, turning off all but the most essential lights, and the like. We're walking a lot more right now, as well, to save on gas.
At least my favorite bottled coffee (Suntory Boss Cold Brew) wasn't in short supply in most stores... I did make my own hot coffee a few days in an effort at some self-rationing...
[19 September 2018]: We visited another grocery store today and found more natto rationing... I guess the Great Natto Shortage is still on.
Natto Rationing
(I thought about titling this "yes, we have no natto"...) For those who don't know, natto is a Japanese delicacy made of fermented soy beans. They taste OK but have an odor best left to those who can't smell. Given the earthquake and resultant blackout, natto fermentation was disrupted and entire batches of it had to be thrown out. The process is sufficiently long enough that yesterday, when I took this picture at a grocery store in Kitahiroshima, almost no natto was available despite it being ten days after the earthquake. The signs are saying the store will sell only one package (which comes with three small containers) of natto per sale. (No government rationing of any kind occurred during the minor shortages and blackout - all rationing was done by individual stores based on what they had on hand.) Just this evening, I saw a news segment on a local TV station that showed at least one store in Sapporo got a large shipment of natto - there were many happy customers who filled their shopping baskets with natto. So I suppose the great natto shortage is at an end.
Actually, tofu is also being rationed (at least it was at this store) due to a long processing timeline. Other grocery stores seemed to have sufficient quantities of tofu but we didn't pay attention to the natto situation there...
Note how dark it looks in this store - they were trying to conserve power. The earthquake took out four of four turbines at the main Hokkaido power plant (one may be restarted tomorrow) and so there is voluntary (with lots of peer pressure on compliance) power savings - lots of stores have dimmed their lights, for example.
We are doing the same by using propane gas for cooking more than our microwave, turning off all but the most essential lights, and the like. We're walking a lot more right now, as well, to save on gas.
At least my favorite bottled coffee (Suntory Boss Cold Brew) wasn't in short supply in most stores... I did make my own hot coffee a few days in an effort at some self-rationing...
[19 September 2018]: We visited another grocery store today and found more natto rationing... I guess the Great Natto Shortage is still on.