[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to episode 335 of the TDR now podcast. We're the first English speaking podcast about theme parks in Asia like Tokyo Disney Resort and others. You can find us basically everywhere under TDR explorer and of course under TDRxplorer.com and I'm one of your hosts, Trish. I am celebrating spring graduation as many parents here are doing at this time of year. And with spring graduation comes spring break, which is going to be exciting.
You can follow me @dreamSweetsLove on Instagram and threads and inktastrophe under blue sky, although I don't use it that much. With me, as always, is the amazing and adorable Chris. Hello.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Hello.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: Hi.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: Hi, I'm Chris. I am the one that is plastered all over YouTube, all over Instagram, all over TikTok.
If you look up Tokyo Disney, I will probably show up in there somewhere.
That's. That's me.
Well, first of all, congratulations to, I guess your son graduating.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: It's been a long time. Yes. We've been through the entire school system. Kindergarten, elementary school, junior high and now high school and now I remember university.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: When we started this podcast. He was just, he was just a baby. He was just a child.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: Oh my goodness, that's so wild.
[00:01:33] Speaker A: Taking pictures with Duffy.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: Oh, that's crazy. It's insane. It's just. Yeah. Just wild to think about.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: Well, congratulations to him. That's, that's a good, that's a big accomplishment.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: I will tell him. Thank you.
[00:01:50] Speaker B: Yeah, it's fun.
And yeah, it's turning into the busy season again.
Even more busy at the parks because graduation's happening and everyone's off.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: All the students, they're all, they're like, woo, we did it.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: I'm going to go to Disneyland. They're going to go to disneysea, they're going to go to Universal. It's going to start getting busy. I saw some videos on TikTok and yeah, there people were showing the lines to get into the park on a Tuesday and.
[00:02:25] Speaker A: Oh man, we were just talking about that.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Yeah, it's so busy.
[00:02:29] Speaker A: Morning lines on social media.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: Yep, yep, we did. Yeah, the last one. But I guess like this is the case where it's like. Yeah, like this is when the lines are pretty long. Because it is pretty.
[00:02:41] Speaker A: Yeah, they are. Yeah.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: Um, but anyway, yeah, I guess if you haven't talked or if you haven't listened to our last episode, make sure you go and listen to that. We talk about misconceptions at Tokyo Disney and give a Little more context on a lot of this stuff.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: Yeah, but going to the resort, they gotta bring something back home, right?
[00:03:03] Speaker B: Yes, yes, yes. So, yeah, before we start talking about our topic today, I just want to remind everyone about our guidebook for Tokyo Disney. The new one is out. The 2025, 2026 edition is out. It's up on the
[email protected] books. It's currently on a special price until March 15th, so if you haven't picked it up yet, make sure you go and do that. And you can get a special bundle that also has our illustrated food guide, which has fun little illustrations of all these. I think it was like 35 plus handpicked snacks that you have to try when you're at Tokyo Disney. Like, these are all snacks I have tried personally and can vanish.
So, yeah, go and check it out. Txbro.combooks it's also in the. In the show notes as well.
But yeah, speaking of food, our topic today is about omiyage.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: What a. And this was. This was a suggestion.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: Thank you again.
I just want to say because we. We never, like, we don't. We rarely get suggestions. So thank you.
[00:04:13] Speaker B: Please keep them coming.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: Yeah, please send them coming. Suggestions we get.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: Really?
Yeah, yeah. It helps us because we've been doing this for a while, so sometimes we don't know. Oh, should we talk about this again? You know, like, sometimes it's a. It's tough for us to kind of come up with ideas sometimes. So, yeah, any suggestions is more than welcome.
[00:04:33] Speaker A: And, you know, we want to talk about what you want us to talk about, you know, so we want it to be something that you enjoy as listeners. So. Yeah, let us know what you're interested in, you know.
[00:04:44] Speaker B: Yeah. And if you're on Patreon too, like, you can go and do that there because we'll definitely see it for sure if you go and do that. So, omiyage, what is there to say about oniyage? Do you.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: There's so much. I feel like it's. It gets very. It can get very complicated, you know, depending on who you're shopping for and, like, where you're going, like what to bring back. And there's so many options and you. You like. Okay, so I guess first we should talk about what omiyage is and the difference between omiyage and temiyage.
So what is omiyage, Chris?
[00:05:26] Speaker B: So omiyage. And this is kind of like a textbook definition of it. It's a Japanese cut. It's a Japanese custom of gift. Giving. And it's important part of Japanese culture where you bring souvenirs and presents back from a trip that you have gone on. And it's usually you bring something back for your family, your friends, classmates, co workers, things of that nature. And it's kind of.
I don't want to say it's. Is it kind of an unwritten rule? Would you classify it as an unwritten rule?
[00:05:59] Speaker A: Yeah, it is.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:00] Speaker A: Because especially with like, work. Well, although I feel like omiyage work, is it getting less or not? I feel like it kind of is one of those things that's becoming like, less focused on.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: I haven't worked in a traditional office for a while, so I don't know anymore.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: I have to ask around because I'm kind of curious about that because I feel like things like that might be changing. Yeah, but.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: Yeah, typically you'll buy something to bring back as a souvenir, but like, omiyagi loosely translates into souvenir in English. But it's not the same as what we like from the west think of as a souvenir. Because when we think souvenir, we're bringing back something for someone. It's usually like a keychain or a T shirt or a hat or something like that. Right.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: But it can be though, because omiyage used to be like in the olden days, right. Before preserved foods and fast travel used to be kind of like hand goods like fans or fabrics and things like that. Like obi and things like that. Right?
[00:07:06] Speaker B: Yeah. So it can be that stuff, but more often than not, it's more food based, like snacks.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: Yeah. Because it gets expensive if you're bringing back for every large groups of people, like keychains and stuff. Right. So it's not really like you might bring back for like a good friend. Like, let's say you go to usj, you might bring back like for your office, like a box of snacks and then like a good friend. Like if, like, let's say you went for like a specific event and they're also like a big fan, you might bring them like a keychain or something like that. Right. If they're a good friend of yours. But like, it. It really depends. And it really depends on your relationship. And you know, it gets very many people you're giving it to, right?
[00:07:47] Speaker B: Yeah, it gets nuanced.
[00:07:50] Speaker A: Yeah, it does. And then there's temi age, which is when you bring something from your hometown to a place that you're going. So like, let's say you're coming from, let's say you're coming from, like, your home country, wherever that is, and you're going to visit Japan and you're bringing something from your home country that would be temiyage, because you're bringing it from where you live to give to people where you're going.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Omiyaki gets a little complicated. Yeah. But I guess, like, to simplify it, it's usually food, some sort of snack food.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's not for you, it's for somebody else.
[00:08:32] Speaker B: Exactly. And, like, if you travel around Japan, if you go to, like, pretty much anywhere, like, especially train stations, you will see these places where they're selling cookies and little chocolates and biscuits and all these things. That is omiyage, because they come in nice packaging and stuff. Like, it's. It's a whole business is what it is.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Massive.
[00:08:55] Speaker B: So much. And some of it gets very popular. Like, a popular one for Tokyo is Tokyo Banana. Like those little cakes shaped like it's bananas.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: Yes. And then there's, like, now they have, like, Gotcha, like, capsule toys based on the Tokyo Banana, little mini cakes, you know, and they'll do collaborations with famous characters. So they have limited things and that gets kind of wild. So sometimes during a big holiday, golden week or something, they'll have a special version or special collaboration, and then all the tourists will flock there.
[00:09:33] Speaker B: Yeah. At Tokyo Station, there's a couple Disney themed ones and they rotate often. It's like. And it's on the way to the KO line, which makes sense. Right? So, yeah, there's like, there's there's so much stuff. Like there's Pokemon, there's Disney, there's, you know, all these different collaborations. And then, like, there's just so much to choose from. There's a lot.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: And then, like, it's kind of cool because you'll get, like, different destinations making a riff off of, like, the famous Omiyage, like, Tokyo Disney Resort had, of course, like, their own version of, like, the Tokyo Banana, which was kind of interesting. It was really, really pop. Right?
[00:10:12] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
That was a collaboration with the actual Tokyo Banana.
[00:10:16] Speaker A: No, I know, I know. Because if not, it would be illegal. No, of course. But it was sold only at the parks. Right.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I remember that. That was good.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So you get some really interesting things happening, you know?
[00:10:30] Speaker B: Yeah. So I guess really quickly, like, why is this so important in Japanese culture?
It's important because it represents a way to share your experiences and show appreciation to others. And it's a gesture of thoughtfulness and consideration for family, friends, colleagues, etc. Bringing back Omiyage signifies that you were thinking of them while you were away, so you're kind of expected to do it.
[00:10:56] Speaker A: And also in the workplace, it used to be kind of like an apology. Like, oh, I'm sorry I went on vacation and took time off of my precious, precious job and co workers.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: Right. So it's like a pretty important social obligation as well. Not just like a thank you, but like an apology almost.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: And that's why, like, when you buy omiyaki, everything's like individually wrapped.
[00:11:22] Speaker A: Mm.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: Because it's meant to be, like, if it comes in a package, like, let's just say like classmates for an example. Right. You take it to your class and you set it out and it's usually put on a table somewhere and then everyone can take like one. Right?
[00:11:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:37] Speaker B: That's why they're individually packaged. I mean, we can go on about plastic and all that kind of stuff.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: But we won't go down that much. I was about to say, I wonder if that the type of separation in the packaging will change in the future.
[00:11:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Because there's a lot of packaging.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: Plastic is involved.
[00:11:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: When every little thing is individually wrapped, like, sometimes, I'll be honest, I buy some of the omiyaki for myself, which we'll talk about.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Because everything wrong with that. Because some of it's really cool.
[00:12:09] Speaker B: Some of it's good too.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: But I guess, like, how do the parks cater to this so specifically? Like, Tokyo Disney, Universal Studios Japan. Pretty much any theme park in Japan will have omiyage. And for Tokyo Disney in particular, they have stores that are just full of omiyage and nothing else. So if you visited before and you went into one of these shops and were confused, like, why is this all like, packaged snack food? I don't get it. It's omiyage. That's what it's for. And they're busy. Those shops are busy, especially at night.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:49] Speaker B: People are buying. Like, people are leaving, you know, to go home.
[00:12:52] Speaker A: Before you go home. Yeah.
[00:12:54] Speaker B: Grab it. You gotta get it. Like, it's that. It's that social obligation to consume.
[00:13:01] Speaker A: I complain about the app a lot, but one of the things I really appreciate about it is that you could order the omiyage and have it sent straight to your house after a day at the park, which I think is amazing.
[00:13:13] Speaker B: Yeah. So if you live in Japan, that's a really good way so you don't have to, like, carry stuff home.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: Yeah, you don't want to lug that on the bullet train or on the airplane or wherever you're going back to.
[00:13:22] Speaker B: You know, like, what you could do is, like, go into the shop and, like, decide what you want. Like, I want that. I want that. I want that. Because, you know, it's kind of nice seeing the item up close and actually looking at it and then decide, okay, I'm going to add it to the cart. Added to the cart. And then order it and then have it shipped. Yeah. From the app, which is. Yeah, that's a good way to do it.
So Disneyland has the one. Was it called Confectionary? Is that what it's called?
[00:13:53] Speaker A: I think so. The confectionery. Yeah, confectionary or something.
[00:13:56] Speaker B: And then the other one is at Disneysea. It's probably the Italian word for confectionery.
[00:14:03] Speaker A: I used to go so many times. I don't remember anymore.
[00:14:07] Speaker B: I don't remember either.
[00:14:09] Speaker A: But it's always at the entrance to the park. There'll be, like, one big store dedicated to sweets to bring, not just sweets like Senbei and things like that to bring back home, like cookies and, like, all that kind of stuff.
[00:14:25] Speaker B: And the best thing about these is so, like, there's a wide variety of omiyagi, so they have ones that are, like, in plastic packaging or paper packaging, like paper bags and stuff like that. Or they have ones in, like, tins.
[00:14:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:40] Speaker B: So tins that you get to keep, which is also kind of nice. And some of these tins are really nice.
[00:14:45] Speaker A: And you, you know, they, they last forever. Because who hasn't been to a doctor's office in Japan and not seen a Disney tin or a tin from Universal or something holding some pens?
So, yeah, they'll hang around. You'll encounter some retro tins if you go around different businesses and stuff, because people bring, Bring it back to their coworkers and it stays in.
[00:15:12] Speaker B: It's true. They do.
I, I, I don't collect the tins anymore. I used to, but then it got to a point where it's like, I don't know what to do with these.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: Impossible. Yeah.
[00:15:23] Speaker B: Yeah. So I stopped. So I have, I have some really fun ones, like, from the 30th anniversary.
Like, I have little tins that have, like, the designs of Mickey and his outfits from, like, the major anniversaries leading up to the 30th.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:15:38] Speaker B: It was like, it was tea. Tea. Like, tea bags were in it.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: Oh, I think the last one I got was the Halloween one, because I kind of like the design.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:15:50] Speaker A: I can put, like, stationery and stuff in it. And my oldest one is probably Rhythms of the World, which I will never part with.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: Oh, man, That's. That's a. That's a relic.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, I like using the tins for, like.
Yeah. Like, putting little knickknack type of things. Like, it's like I. I have, like. I do journaling and stuff, so I have, like, little stickers and whatnot. So whenever I get stickers, I just throw them into a tin, and then whenever I need them, I just kind of, like, rifle through my little tin of stickers.
[00:16:24] Speaker A: Yes. And washi tape and things like that, right?
[00:16:27] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's. It's. It's. It's a good way to kind of organize some of that stuff, I think.
[00:16:31] Speaker A: For sure, which is nice.
[00:16:35] Speaker B: And then there's. Yeah.
Like, a lot of the stuff is kind of in disposable packaging, so there's a lot of the cardboard type of things, but then some of them come in, like, really cute, like, shapes.
For shapes.
[00:16:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:50] Speaker B: There's, like, Halloween, there'll be one that's maybe shaped as a pumpkin. And Christmas, there's one shaped as a snowman. And there's. There's just so much. Right. And for the type of omiyage. Oh, my goodness. I guess probably the most popular or some of the most popular is chocolate crunch. That's a popular one.
[00:17:09] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Yes.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: It's good, though.
[00:17:12] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, you can't go wrong with chocolate.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: You can't go wrong. Chocolate crunch. Yeah, it's like chocolate with, like, basically Rice Krispies in it, I guess.
[00:17:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:20] Speaker B: It's essentially what it is.
[00:17:22] Speaker A: And I like the seasonal stuff, like, around New Year's, like how, like, at the parks, you'll have, like. Like, kind of like Japanese style, like. Or Japanese, like, confection flavors and things like that. Like kinako and things like that are really good.
[00:17:36] Speaker B: Yeah. I love. Yeah.
Cognac. No, they don't have cognac. There's a jelly. There's. It's usually during New Year's, I think there's like a jelly. Like, it's a little bar that's a jelly. I can't remember what it's called.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: Oh, it's. Hold on. What is it called? No, my. My husband. Love. It's Me, too.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: I think it's a red bean paste jelly, I think, is what it is.
[00:18:00] Speaker A: Life of me. Remember what the name is. But yeah, if you know what it is, you know.
[00:18:05] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a jelly.
[00:18:08] Speaker A: It's.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: Yeah, it's pretty good. Yeah.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: It's gonna drive me crazy. Yeah.
[00:18:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
I like when they do the soups, little miso soups and stuff, because they'll usually have like, the little, like, furikake stuff inside of it. That's like the little. I don't even know what they are half the time, but, you know, they'll be in shape of Mickey and stuff, which I always think is really cute.
[00:18:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, at the parks, I'm trying to think, which I like when they do something kind of, like a little bit, like, out of the ordinary, like, something kind of, like, really interesting. I remember, like, back in the day when they had, like, furikake, and everybody's like, oh, they have furikake, which is, like a rice topping that, you know, kids like to put on the rice. And, like, when it was new, everybody's like, oh, this is great, and it's really affordable. And then the other thing that I remember around. I think it was around the same time was when they first introduced the Mickey Hand shaved rice scooper.
And it's not a food, but I remember it was massively popular, and, like, everybody wanted it, like, as a souvenir.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: I love when they have those little things.
[00:19:24] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's really fun. They do some really interesting things because they're kind of like.
They kind of, like, have a disadvantage, but, like, in terms of, like, ideas, they're kind of, like, at a disadvantage. Because a lot of places, omiyage will be very, very regional. And when you go to a theme park, it's not about region, it's about the parks. Right. So you have to kind of, like, play around with those ideas. Right.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: Yeah. So, like, a good example that comes up is they have.
They. I don't know if they have it anymore, but they would have, like, the. The instant curry that tastes like the curry from the two restaurants. From the Casbo Food Court and from the Hungry Bear. Yeah, they sold that to take home, which I thought was kind of fun.
[00:20:08] Speaker A: That's always fun. Yeah.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: Like, stuff like that, I think is fun, where it's like, oh, I can kind of take the food home from a little bit.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: 100.
[00:20:20] Speaker B: Well, I guess, like, the frozen food stuff, I don't think you would call that omiyage per se. You kind of buy that for yourself.
[00:20:29] Speaker A: Came out of the pandemic where we couldn't go to the parks as much. So you wanted to, like, have a connection to the park. So you could kind of order that. I think that was a really cool idea.
[00:20:40] Speaker B: I wouldn't classify that as omiyage because yeah, it's, and it's, it's quite expensive. Like. Oh my. Omiyage is supposed to be a little bit more affordable.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: And like, yeah, the green and emoji thing is like 4,500 yen or something for.
[00:20:52] Speaker A: Oh my gosh.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: And like it has to be shipped frozen and yet.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: No.
[00:20:59] Speaker B: Another one that I really liked is the chips. I guess we can kind of go into ones that we like. The type of omiyaki we like.
I think they still have it. So they started doing chips like potato chips. And the flavor is the bone and sausage flavor.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: Oh my gosh.
[00:21:17] Speaker B: From the bone and sausage inside the park. And it tastes pretty close to it, which is scary.
I, I do like that. But I, I do love potato chips as well.
Marshmallows is one of my go to's.
[00:21:37] Speaker A: My son used to love those as like a snack.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: Oh, I, I, so I have like, I, I need to eat them before they go.
[00:21:46] Speaker A: They're really good. Like, I know like some people are like, they don't like marshmallows, but these are really, really good.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: They're small, they're fluffy, they're soft and they have, there's usually, there's something in the middle.
[00:22:00] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: It's usually like chocolate or strawberry or I think the ones I got during Halloween. One was Mont Blanc, I think.
[00:22:10] Speaker A: Oh, yummy.
[00:22:11] Speaker B: Which I'm not the biggest fan of because you, you know, you know me and Mont Blanc.
[00:22:15] Speaker A: No, I know, I know, I know you have a very contentious relationship.
[00:22:20] Speaker B: But I bought them anyway because I love the marshmallows. Oh, and another favorite of mine recently is, it's from Fantasy Springs. It's in the Peter Pan packaging and it's popcorn and basically cheesies together.
[00:22:39] Speaker A: Oh, cool.
[00:22:40] Speaker B: Butter popcorn and cheesies. Which is like a weird combination, but it's nice.
[00:22:44] Speaker A: It's a good otsumami snack to bring back to somebody who likes to drink.
[00:22:49] Speaker B: Oh yeah, yeah.
A nice salty snack.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:22:54] Speaker B: That's also, that's really good. And another one that my, another go to of mine is, you know, I don't know if we have an equivalent anywhere else, but they're like these little cheese filled corn snacks and they're really good.
[00:23:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:14] Speaker B: And I think the last one I had was like a, it was like cheese, like barbecue cheese or something. I can't remember. I, well I ate them all so I can't, I can't look at the packaging, but I love those as well. Like, I love, like, cheese snacks of any kind. Like, I just. I love them. Like, that's like my kryptonite, basically.
[00:23:36] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: They're just so good. And those ones are usually the, like, on the lower end in terms of pricing.
[00:23:44] Speaker A: Yeah, they're usually.
[00:23:46] Speaker B: They're usually like, hovering around 500 yen, which to me, like, hey, that's pretty good for a snack.
[00:23:53] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: So, yeah, there's a whole bunch of other. Like, there's. There's lollipops, there's soups, there's teas, there's chocolates, there's. Oh, my goodness. I can't even think of all. There's just so many.
[00:24:09] Speaker A: Yeah, you can, like, go to the website and, like, get an idea, you know? Yeah, for sure.
[00:24:14] Speaker B: Peruse it all well. And, like, the best thing about the omiyage is they'll always have a display that shows you exactly what's inside everything.
[00:24:23] Speaker A: Yeah. If you. If you really need to see it, like, in person, they do have that. Like, I feel like the website does a pretty good job of showing you the packaging and everything, though.
[00:24:33] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, it's, I guess, like, the corn snacks or the senbei, like the sen variety of senbei that's very popular. So, like the. The rice snacks.
[00:24:43] Speaker A: Yeah, I love people get those. I loved when they did the umaibo, like, their version of umaibo. I thought that was really cool.
And it's. It's a really good souvenir to bring to people, I think.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: What are some of your favorite types of umiyagi to get?
[00:25:00] Speaker A: So, like, usually, of course, I don't buy omiyage from here because, you know, we live here. So, like, when I'm traveling, I love to find, like, something regional and, like, really interesting and that maybe we can't get at home or that's really, really famous in the region. And maybe, like, interesting could be, like, interesting packaging, or it could be like, something that the receiver would really like. So, like, we went to the Mount Fuji area, like, to go glamping, I think, last year or so. And so we brought back to, like, our family members. They had, like this.
How do you say, this curry that was like. It was blue. And they had, like, the rice shaper so you could shape it like Mount Fuji. So we brought, like, those little rice shapers together with the Mount Fuji curry. And then for, like, our son, he didn't come with us, so we got him like this.
There was like, this Anime that he liked. And they had like a really. It was like a really weird flavor and it was like a bright pink curry. So we brought him that along with a little rice shaper for him too. And like, I like to like, we went one place to this place with like, it was known for its steam engine and they had all this black food to represent, I guess the coal or something. And I liked the aesthetic of what the little coal cakes looked like. I thought that was really cool. So it really depends on where you're going and what you're going to see. Because when we went to Oita for Attack on Titan Shingeki, we brought back like some Shingeki related stuff, like both for ourselves, but also to give away as souvenirs as well as like some local regional food souvenirs like yuzu kosho and things like that. So like, we try to get a little bit of like, kind of like the. More like touristy stuff mixed with like local foods that you are. That's well known in the region.
[00:27:19] Speaker B: I guess. Like one of my favorite like omiyages I omiyage I ever bought was when I went to Tottori, which is. I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't.
My watch went off up in Tottori. And Tottori is the least populated prefecture in Japan.
[00:27:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:39] Speaker B: And that's also where they did. I don't know if you remember this back in 2015, I think it was 2015. They did. When Star wars, the new episode seven, I think it was, was coming out.
They did the. The ad campaign with R2D2 and C3PO in the. In the dunes.
[00:27:58] Speaker A: Oh my gosh.
[00:27:59] Speaker B: Because Tottori is obviously famous for. Well, not obviously. If you don't know. Tottori is famous for its sand dunes. And it looks like a desert right up against the ocean. It's very unique.
[00:28:09] Speaker A: Perfect. Yeah.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: So I just remember them doing a ad campaign with that. So I've always wanted to go because I thought it'd be kind of cool to see these sand dunes. So I went up to Tottori, which is not exactly the easiest to get to.
I took a very regional train. Like it had switchbacks to go.
[00:28:30] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:28:31] Speaker B: I went all the way to. I think it was.
Where's Himeji Castle? What's up? City Himeji. I think it's just Himeji. Yeah. Which is like west of Osaka, past Kobe, kind of on the way to Hiroshima and had to switch there and then go up like on a regional train up to Tottori. And I just went for the day. And Tottori, it's regional Pokemon because every prefecture has an assigned Pokemon that kind of represents the prefecture and theirs is Sandshrew. And if you're a Pokemon fan, kind of makes sense. Why? Because Sandshrew is in the sand and Tottori is famous for its sand dune. So it just kind of made sense. And when I went, the time I went, they had like a pop up Pokemon center in their train station. The one train station they had in the city.
It was, it was, it was a very different experience, by the way, because it's so low. Like, would you call it Inaka? Even though it's up against the ocean? I don't know what you would say.
[00:29:43] Speaker A: I would say it's countryside.
[00:29:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
They didn't have automated ticket gates. They had someone there to check your ticket to get.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: If there's no automated ticket gates. It's absolutely the countryside.
[00:29:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
But. And like the one train station I was at, like, well, the train station, they had a pop up Pokemon center. And I went and checked it out. It was pretty cute. And then there was a shop in the, in the train station that was selling like Tottori omiyage. And I was going through it and they had a whole bunch of like Sandshrew locally made omiyage that was themed to Sandshrew.
[00:30:24] Speaker A: Oh my God.
[00:30:25] Speaker B: That you could only buy there.
[00:30:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:27] Speaker B: And I thought this is the coolest thing. Like you can't, like, you can't get this anywhere else. So I ended up buying myself a, a picture frame of Sandshrew, like a picture holder. And it was made from the sand from the dunes.
[00:30:46] Speaker A: Oh my gosh.
[00:30:47] Speaker B: Which I think is so cool. I still have it. It's so cute.
[00:30:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:50] Speaker B: And then I bought these like cookies that were like these little like round cookies, like sugar cookies that were themed to the Alohen version of Sandshrew. And for those that don't know, the Alohan version of Sandshrew is white. So the cookies were white, like in a white powder.
And like, so I bought those to, to give to friends and stuff back home. So I just thought that was so cool.
[00:31:16] Speaker A: It's always really fun, for sure, to do that.
[00:31:19] Speaker B: Yeah. Like where, like there's nowhere else to get that. You're not going to get that anywhere else. I think it's just so unique to get that kind of stuff.
And I'm trying to think for like the parks in terms of like, what other unique things they've done for their omiyage.
[00:31:41] Speaker A: I feel like omiyage doesn't like go too far from, you know, it's usually in the packaging.
[00:31:50] Speaker B: It's usually the packaging.
[00:31:51] Speaker A: Yeah, it's the packaging. And like there's, there's always something to.
[00:31:55] Speaker B: Like, for every event or every like new attraction that opens, there's always some sort of omiyage, usually a tin of some sort to kind of commemorate that.
So if you want something unique kind of look, look for those kind of things because you're not going to really find them anywhere else. Really Universal does the same thing.
[00:32:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:18] Speaker B: They have a lot of. There's a lot of Jaws stuff. I think you can buy fish sticks or something or like, you know, like the. Oh, no, it's not, it's not Jaws. It's from Super Nintendo World. It's dried ika. Dried squid.
[00:32:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:36] Speaker B: And it's black because it's dyed with like squid ink.
[00:32:39] Speaker A: Oh my gosh. So cute. I feel like that would be really popular. Yeah.
[00:32:43] Speaker B: And it comes, and it comes in the, the packaging that looks like the blooper, the little squid.
[00:32:48] Speaker A: Yeah. I feel like that would be like a really popular one to bring back. Yeah.
[00:32:53] Speaker B: And then for like Donkey Kong country, they have like a tin that is in the shape of the coin that you collect in the game and has like chocolates in it.
And then they have banana chips and stuff like that. So yeah, there's some thought put into some of these things.
[00:33:08] Speaker A: Oh, for sure.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: Which I think is fun.
I.
I usually like, I will buy omiyage stuff to take home to my family.
[00:33:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:20] Speaker B: Of course, over time I've kind of learned what they like.
[00:33:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:24] Speaker B: Like, there's like, there's some stuff like, oh, this is kind of fun. I think they'd like it. And then it turns out like one person in the family would try and like, oh, it's not really for me. I'm like, oh, okay.
[00:33:35] Speaker A: I feel like to bring overseas, like things that people are like really a little bit more familiar with. Like, I feel like Kit Kats are always super popular, like, because it's like already a well known, like candy and like it's in a different flavor.
[00:33:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:50] Speaker A: Something like.
[00:33:52] Speaker B: Yeah. Something with chocolates or something like that. Right. Like, chocolates are pretty universal.
[00:33:57] Speaker A: I feel like the candy that you make like that the kids mix are always really popular with kids.
[00:34:04] Speaker B: You know, once you start, once you start getting into like the like the sembe, the rice crackers and stuff, it's kind of hit or miss for people.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:12] Speaker B: From The West. Because it's like. Some of it is like fish flavor. Like usually shrimp. Right.
Not everyone likes that. I particularly don't. But I do like, I do love senbe. Like, I like.
[00:34:24] Speaker A: I love senbei.
[00:34:26] Speaker B: What is the. The one popular brand? Soft salad. Is that what it's called?
[00:34:31] Speaker A: What?
[00:34:32] Speaker B: There's like, there's a brand of sembe, like the round rice crackers.
[00:34:37] Speaker A: Oh, is it the one that's like kind of like oval shaped?
[00:34:40] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Isn't it for kids?
[00:34:44] Speaker A: It's for kids. Yeah.
[00:34:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:45] Speaker A: And like, it tastes really good.
[00:34:47] Speaker B: It tastes really good. But it's called soft salad, which is like the weirdest freaking name. Like what?
[00:34:51] Speaker A: I know I've snatched some from my child back in the day.
[00:34:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: It's really yummy.
[00:34:57] Speaker B: It's a. It's a nice alternative when I want something other than potato chips. Because you probably shouldn't have a ton of potato chips.
[00:35:03] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:35:03] Speaker B: Sometimes I'm just craving, like, that salty, crunchy feeling.
[00:35:07] Speaker A: Mm.
[00:35:08] Speaker B: And like with senbe, I like to think they're not as bad as chips. Like. Like, I'm not going to sit and eat a whole bag of senbe, you.
[00:35:17] Speaker A: Know, I feel like you're filling that. Yeah, it's. I feel like chips, like, it's easy to like, eat the whole bag eating. And with Simba, you kind of get kind of full for whatever reason.
[00:35:28] Speaker B: I guess because it's rice maybe. I guess I'm not sure.
[00:35:32] Speaker A: What about when you're coming the other way? When you're coming from like another country? Like, like from Canada and coming back to Japan? What do you bring back as omiyage?
[00:35:44] Speaker B: So I usually bring things that you can only find in Canada.
So I try, like, I guess I've become a little too Japanese when it comes to this. I try to find things that are kind of wrapped or individually wrapped, and.
[00:36:00] Speaker A: It can be kind of difficult to find.
[00:36:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Because we don't really do that too much over there.
[00:36:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:06] Speaker B: Because, like, potato chips, like, we have unique flavors of potato chips in Canada. But, like, it's kind of tough to.
[00:36:15] Speaker A: They can get like. I feel like they're gonna get squashed, you know?
[00:36:18] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, I. I do like bringing like ketchup chips over, which are delicious and all dressed chips. Those ones confuse a lot of people, but they are. They are delicious.
Have you ever had all dressed chips?
[00:36:32] Speaker A: I have not. What is it?
[00:36:35] Speaker B: Okay, so next time I'm in Canada, I'm gonna bring. I'll bring you a bag back.
[00:36:39] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:36:40] Speaker B: It's like a tangy barbecue, ketchupy, spicy potato chip.
[00:36:47] Speaker A: Sounds good.
[00:36:48] Speaker B: And vinegar. And it's vinegary.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: I love vinegar. Okay.
[00:36:52] Speaker B: It's really good. It's like. It's a Canadian staple. It's so good.
Other ones I like to bring are hickory sticks.
[00:37:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:04] Speaker B: So they're like little. Like, they're little flats potato sticks that are very salty.
Another one is coffee crisp. It's a chocolate bar, and it kind of has, like, a faint coffee flavor, and it's kind of a light chocolate bar.
[00:37:19] Speaker A: Oh, cool.
[00:37:20] Speaker B: Quite nice. And my personal favorite is cheesies.
So they're kind of like Cheetos, but they're different. They're harder. And the cheese is more like kind of a real cheese flavor, not a fake cheese flavor.
[00:37:39] Speaker A: I know.
[00:37:40] Speaker B: Yeah. So, like, those are some of the things I like to bring when I'm, like, bringing stuff for Japanese friends and whatnot.
[00:37:46] Speaker A: How cool.
[00:37:47] Speaker B: Yeah. What about you?
[00:37:48] Speaker A: I try to match, like, what they. What Japanese people bring me when they come from overseas. So North America, like, chocolate bar is not so good unless it's like, a fancy chocolate bar. Because, like, our chocolate is not that good in America. But, like, so, like Hawaii, there'll be, like, kind of like certain.
Like, like, what is it like, bean to bar, like, chocolate makers and stuff. And those, like, tend to be better. Or like, like you said, like, regional stuff.
I'm trying to think.
Last time we. We haven't been back in a while. I think last time we went to Florida, we brought back, like, saltwater taffy because you could, like, split it up because it's, like, individually wrapped, some of them. But. And what else did we bring?
Like, weird flavor American snacks, you know, because, like, they have, like, a bunch of really crazy flavors.
And when we went to Spain, like, I feel like we in Switzerland, we went to, like, the supermarkets to look at what they had there. And we brought back, like, small things, like, from the supermarket. Like in Spain, they had, like, little mini version, like the olive oils, you know, like, things like that. And like, what. What is it? Like, they had, like, little mini, like, foods, and we would bring back some of those.
Or like when we went to, like, a place like this Monk place, they had, like, little mini liqueur bottles, and we brought some of that back. And so, like, like you said, like, like something that's from the country that you can't really get here or it's hard to get. Oh, and you know what else? Like, Trader Joe bags, like echo bags, like, from overseas are really popular. So, like, that's always a good souvenir. Even though, like, it might sound kind of strange, like, it's really, really popular, you know?
[00:39:42] Speaker B: That's true. Yeah, I guess anything Tim Hortons from Canada, but.
[00:39:47] Speaker A: Oh, that would be great. Yeah. Like, cute logos. Like, when we went to. There's, like, a malasada place in Hawaii, and they. Everything. I think it's called Leonard's and everything. Like, was. The logo was so cute. So, like, a bunch. We bought a bunch of stuff from there to bring back.
[00:40:02] Speaker B: Oh, that's fun. Yeah, I love that. It's a gift. Giving is pretty universal, right?
No, it's. It's always fun. Like, I. For my family back home, my brother, my youngest brother, he loves the.
You know what? I don't know what it's called, but I know what the packaging is. Like, the. You know, the little lab potato sticks that you can buy pretty much everywhere here.
[00:40:30] Speaker A: Oh, Jagarico.
[00:40:32] Speaker B: Yeah, those, like, you know, that comes in, like, the little cup you pop the top off, and it's like the, like, little sticks of potato chip. Like, stick potato chips. He loves the butter ones. Like, the butter.
[00:40:43] Speaker A: It's so good.
[00:40:44] Speaker B: It's. They're. They're so good. I kind of want some.
[00:40:47] Speaker A: You know what I would recommend, too?
Like, so that. That's really good. And they have so many different flavors, and they have regional flavors, too. And, like, Black Thunder, the cheap chocolate bar.
[00:40:59] Speaker B: Yes, those are so good. I love when they do collaborations. I love when they do collaborations at, like, McDonald's. McDonald's has done, like, McFlurries with Black Thunder, and I, like. I live for that. It's so good. They have. Black Thunder is so good.
[00:41:12] Speaker A: It is. It really is. So. And it's, like, really inexpensive, and they have so many different flavors, and it's really fun.
[00:41:20] Speaker B: I love that.
My mom loves the. The. The same type of potato chip, but it's salad flavored.
Like, the salad flavor ones. Like, it comes in the green. Comes in the green packaging. Yeah.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:34] Speaker B: I guess, like, if you're unsure of what Japanese omiyage to get for people, anything with potatoes is probably gonna be a winner.
[00:41:42] Speaker A: That's true.
[00:41:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, anything with potatoes, I think.
[00:41:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:46] Speaker B: Or, like, potatoes or chocolate, I think is probably, like, the safe bet for if you want to appease to everybody. It's probably that you probably don't want to do, like, the rice treats or the rice cake or rice snacks or anything that might be hit or miss for people. But, yeah, chocolates and anything with chips, I think.
[00:42:06] Speaker A: Probably like I feel like chocolate you have to go more like either indie or more like niche chocolate. Because like things like Milka for example is like really readily available here. So you have to be a little bit more careful with some of the chocolates or like a flavor that's more unique to your country. So for example, what's it called? The German chocolate That's like square.
[00:42:33] Speaker B: No idea.
[00:42:37] Speaker A: It's really readily available here. But there were some flavors when we were in Germany that they did not have here. So I would check what flavors are available in Japan like depending on what country you're in and see if there's something like that's more local or like that's like a limited flavor in your country and bring that over.
[00:42:57] Speaker B: Yeah, Chocolate Crunch is always a winner.
Anything chocolate crunch, I remember.
So like going back to Kit Kats like people love KitKats, like they're easy to find. Just go to pretty much any grocery store or go to Don Quixote or wherever there's going to be Kit Kat flavors. They even have, they even have it at the frickin airport.
[00:43:18] Speaker A: Yeah, the airport will have all the flavors. Like if you don't want to pick it up.
[00:43:22] Speaker B: They know what the two about. Yeah. The weirdest KitKat flavor I ever tried was the throat lozenge flavored KitKat. And that was like, that was an official flavor that they sold for a while.
It was, it was a weird experience. Like it was white chocolate but you know when you have like a throat losage and has like that, that like that vapor feeling in your throat and like clears your sinuses.
That's what was happening with it. It was so weird.
[00:43:56] Speaker A: What?
[00:43:57] Speaker B: It was the weirdest. This like this was probably 2016, 2017. I don't think they've done it since. It was. That was the weirdest thing.
Weird.
That's not really omiyage. It's more of a snack. But probably my favorite, absolute favorite, like collab snack I guess that you know these snacks can double as omiyage. Like whatever. No one's gonna care, you know especially if you.
[00:44:28] Speaker A: Any, any snack can be omiyage as long as you can give it to people.
[00:44:33] Speaker B: Yeah. And like if you're taking it back home no one's gonna know the difference anyway.
[00:44:38] Speaker A: Well then it becomes Tammy I guess. So it really doesn't matter.
[00:44:41] Speaker B: My favorite is when they do the collaboration. When KFC does a collaboration with. I can't remember which cheap chip company it is but they do a collaboration with the chip, with the potato chip. And it tastes like the chicken skin from kfc. And it is so good. It tastes, it tastes exactly like it.
I think they. They did it last year. Like, it's. It's always a limited thing. It's never just always available. It's gone now, so I don't know if they'll bring it. They bring it back every few years, it seems. But they do have, I think every.
Every major convenience store has like, their own version of it. So, like, you can get the, the 7 11, you can get their fried chicken flavored potato chips.
I think Family Mart might do it too, in Lawson. But I do, I definitely know the 711 does.
[00:45:33] Speaker A: That's so funny. Oh, this is kind of like Omiyaga adjacent.
So have you seen lately in the supermarket, you know Co Trip, right?
[00:45:45] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:45:46] Speaker A: Like, Code Trip is like the, the famous, like, travel book. That's super, super cute.
[00:45:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:45:51] Speaker A: And lately they've been doing like a lot of collaborative goods. Like what, like washi tape and like little notebooks and stuff like that. Well, at the supermarket the other day, they had co trip, like little soft, I don't know how to say, like confections, soft cookies, sandwiches with like, cream filling based on regional cafe sweets.
[00:46:16] Speaker B: Oh.
[00:46:16] Speaker A: It would say where it's from and it would show the picture of the sweet that they were taking the flavors from. And they kind of like put it into like the biscuit. Like what they tried to like, bring. Bring you the flavor of that cafe to you in your area, which I thought was really, really cute and so clever.
[00:46:38] Speaker B: That's really interesting. I like that.
[00:46:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I did too. I thought that was really brilliant.
[00:46:43] Speaker B: I love it when they do those things.
[00:46:45] Speaker A: I do too.
[00:46:47] Speaker B: Good.
[00:46:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:46:50] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. Well, yeah. So if you want to do something, if you want to bring something back unique for, you know, family, friends, co workers back home, get them some omiyage and take the Japanese tradition back home with you.
[00:47:07] Speaker A: Yeah, do that.
[00:47:08] Speaker B: It's always fun. It's fun and, and it's inexpensive compared to everything else you can get. Like, you can like if you had a, like, I guess if you're a teacher, you know, you want to bring back something for your class.
[00:47:19] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:47:20] Speaker B: You can. Like, you can spend like, not even $10 and have something cool for your. Your kids.
[00:47:27] Speaker A: Yeah. And like what a lot of people do like too is like you. If you go to like, if you go to like, seria, you can get like a bunch of like little zip pouches and you can put various omiyage. Do like a little omiyage sampler and hand them out to people. Like, that's something I see people do here. Like, they'll be like, oh. Like, they'll be like, oh, no. Like a few, like, Universal Studios candies mixed with another omiyage. And, like, they just give it to you and they. They split it that way. That's what I've seen as well.
[00:48:00] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a. That's a really good idea. I didn't even think of that. That's fun. Yeah. Yeah. Like, go to Syria or Daiso or Three coins.
[00:48:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Get like, a cute little. A cute little pouch.
[00:48:13] Speaker B: They will have, like, you can buy, you know, packs of 20 and like, I. I do know Seria and Daiso will have Disney ones.
[00:48:23] Speaker A: 100. Sure.
[00:48:24] Speaker B: And like. And other ones, like, there's Sanrio characters and, like, whatever you can think of, they probably have it.
So, yeah, you can, like, mix and match. You can buy, like. Because if you're visiting, you're probably not just going to the parks, like Disney. You might be going to Universal. You might be going to other parts of Japan and, you know, kind of pick up all these different omiyage and then make little gift bags for everyone.
[00:48:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:48:47] Speaker B: So that's very popular, it seems. That's a good idea. I'm gonna do that. I don't know why I didn't think of that.
[00:48:55] Speaker A: I think it's also really cool if you see what kids choose as omiyage. It's always really interesting.
[00:49:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:49:05] Speaker A: Have you ever received omiyage from little kids?
[00:49:10] Speaker B: No, I haven't.
[00:49:11] Speaker A: It's really funny. Their sense of omiyage is very interesting. Like.
Like, my little nephew, he knows I like fountain pens, and we always draw together. And he went to, you know, like, Hawaiians, like, the water park.
And so he went there and he brought me, like, this very, like, cute, like, pen, like a ballpoint pen. And it had, like, a dolphin. It was, like, very brightly colored. And he was so proud of it. He's like, look. And he. Of course, they also brought some. The usual snacks and things like that. But, like, it's really cut the famous. When you give kids money for souvenirs and they go on a trip and they bring back one of those samurai keychain, Samurai sword keychains.
And they always do this. They always do, like. It's like the famous kids, you give them the spending money, like, what did you spend your. What did you use your spending money for? And he's like, look how cool it is. And they all do this. It's like, really, really funny. So it's kind of interesting to see what kids choose. And when you go to the omiyage shops, they'll be clearly that section intended for kids, like, on school trips with all these little, like, character keychains and, like, a bunch of samurai swords and things like that. And it's, like, really funny.
[00:50:34] Speaker B: They know exactly what they're doing.
[00:50:36] Speaker A: They do. And it's like, I think it's really interesting to see, like, kind of like if you go to one of the shops, just watch what the kids are looking at and choosing as souvenirs to bring back to their friends. I think it's really interesting, too.
[00:50:51] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness.
Well, I think that's it for the episode here. But before we go, we want to thank some wonderful explorers who are supporting us over on Patreon. So if you want to support the show, head over to patreon.comtdr now and you can get your name read out at the end of the episode here or get access to our episodes early. And we also have bonus episodes and stuff. So, yeah, make sure you go check it out. So a big thank you to Acro Disney Girl, Adam, Amanda C, Amy B, Amy C, Mama, Explorer, Benjamin, Brent, M, Carrie, Crispy, Claire, Claudia, Dave, David, Baker, Kevin, Harry, Marina, Beth, Eli, Robinson, Taylor.
[00:51:31] Speaker A: And Mel and Jamie, Jose, Kathy, Lee, Marie, Michelle, Murray, Sophie, Spoopy, Thomas, K, Alexandra, Lizzie, Amy, and Andy, Dana, Cassandra, Annie, Sonia, WW, Paige, Adelaide, Tara, and Nina.
[00:51:46] Speaker B: Thank you so much, everyone. And, oh, I almost forgot. We have one more new person and I forgot to put it in the show notes, so forgive me. Hold on. I'm going to get it right now because I remember I just remembered. So apologies.
Give me one second. Give me one second.
[00:52:04] Speaker A: Okay, Drumroll.
[00:52:07] Speaker B: Oh, please forgive me if I say this incorrectly, Tuyen. I think that's how you say it. T, U, Y E N.
So thank you to Tuan as well for joining us. I'm going to add this to the list here.
All right, Perfect.
All right, well, thank you so much, explorers. If you haven't already, tap that subscriber follow button on your podcast app of choice so you don't miss any of our newest episodes. I'm one of your hosts, Chris. I am the one that is.
I have to make my way through these marshmallows. I bought marshmallows back in Halloween, Omiyagi, and have not. I've not finished them.
[00:52:55] Speaker A: Is it. Is it okay to eat? So.
[00:52:58] Speaker B: Oh, they're packaged marshmallows. I think they're fine.
[00:53:00] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:53:02] Speaker B: And joining, as always, is the wonderful Patricia.
[00:53:04] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Now I want to go on a trip and look at all the Omega at the store. You guys let us know what you buy or what you bought when you've gone to Japan and brought back for your friends and family. Like, what Omiyage worked? What. What. What did people like? What did you think was a really cool find? And keep exploring.
[00:53:29] Speaker B: All right, explorers, thank you so much for joining us, and we'll see you in the next one.
Bye.
