SORABYCO | Life in Japan

If you live in Japan, these are the care symbols you’ll commonly find on clothing, towels, bedding and other textile products sold here. At first glance, Japanese laundry symbols can look more complicated than they really are. I still sometimes pick up a new towel or shirt, look at the tag and think, “I know I’ve seen this before, but what exactly does it mean?” The easiest way to read a Japanese clothing care label is to start with five basic shapes: Wash tub = washing Triangle = bleaching Square = drying Iron = ironing Circle = professional cleaning After that, check the smaller details. Numbers usually show the maximum temperature, lines indicate a gentler process, dots are used for temperature settings, and an X means that treatment should not be used. Once I started reading labels in that order, they became much easier to understand. How to Read Washing Symbols in Japan The wash tub is the first symbol I check because it tells me whether an item can be washed with water and how ge...

When I shop for groceries in Japan, I’m used to seeing different tax rates on my receipt. Most everyday purchases are taxed at 10%, while many food and non-alcoholic drinks are currently covered by the reduced 8% consumption tax rate. So when I first heard that Japan plans to cut the tax on food to 1%, my immediate reaction was: Does that mean almost everything in my supermarket basket will be taxed at just 1%? Not quite. Japan’s Cabinet approved a basic policy on August 5, 2026, that calls for the reduced consumption tax rate on eligible food and beverages to fall from 8% to 1% for two years starting April 1, 2027 . The important words here are “eligible food.” Alcohol and restaurant dining are not currently part of the reduced-rate category, so the headline “1% food tax” is much broader than the actual plan. There is another point worth keeping in mind. The Cabinet has approved the basic policy, but residents should still check the final rules and implementation details as April 2027...

Onigiri is one of the easiest things to grab from a convenience store in Japan. We often buy it when we are out for the day, along with sandwiches or bento. But one summer experience made me realize I had been a little too casual about how I stored it. My husband and I bought some convenience store food and ate it in the car. One onigiri was left over. The air conditioning was running and the car felt cool, so I didn't think much about it. When we got home, I put the leftover onigiri in the refrigerator and we ate it the next day. I felt fine, but my husband later had an upset stomach. I have no way of knowing whether the onigiri had anything to do with it or whether something else was responsible. Still, it left me with a question I had never really thought about before: How long can onigiri sit out in summer? The short answer is that there isn't a single time limit that makes every onigiri safe or unsafe. In summer, don't rely on the clock alone. Think about how the onig...

Raw eggs are part of everyday food culture in Japan. You see them in tamago kake gohan, with sukiyaki, and in other familiar dishes. Even after living in Japan for years, I still sometimes crack an egg and think, “Should I eat this one raw, or just fry it?” I used to pay a lot of attention to the yolk. If it looked high and firm, I felt more comfortable eating it raw. If the white spread out more than usual, I would often decide to cook it. But appearance alone cannot tell you whether an egg is suitable for raw consumption. If you are living in Japan, the better things to check are the best-before date, refrigeration history, and whether the shell is intact. A quick way to think about it is: Within the best-before date + properly refrigerated + an intact shell: these are the basic checks to make before considering an egg for raw consumption in Japan. Past the best-before date or a cracked shell: avoid eating it raw and cook it thoroughly. Unknown storage history or obvious signs that...

If you buy eggs at a supermarket in Japan, should you put them in the refrigerator when you get home? Yes. Check the storage instructions on the package and refrigerate the eggs as directed. In Japan, the best-before date for shell eggs is generally based on refrigerated storage at 10°C (50°F) or below. This can feel confusing if you come from a country where eggs are sold on an ordinary shelf. I have lived in Japan for years, and putting eggs straight into the fridge after grocery shopping has become automatic for me. But once I noticed that eggs are handled differently overseas, I started wondering why the rules seem to change from country to country. The reason is not simply cultural preference. Egg production, inspection, distribution, labeling, and temperature control are managed differently in different places. For everyday life in Japan, the important part is much simpler: follow the Japanese label and keep the eggs refrigerated as instructed. Should You Refrigerate Eggs in Jap...

When summer gets hot in Japan, even something as simple as preparing rice can make you pause. I usually wash my rice before cooking, and during the cooler months I never thought much about where it sat while soaking. But in summer, leaving rice in water on a warm kitchen counter started to bother me. So I began soaking rice in the fridge instead. Yes, you can soak rice in the refrigerator. If the rice will be sitting in water for a while during hot weather, keeping it cold is a practical option rather than leaving it at room temperature for hours. I also noticed something unexpected: I seemed to like the rice better this way. It felt a little fluffier, and the flavor seemed better to me. That made me curious about whether there was actually a reason behind it. How Long Should You Soak Rice Before Cooking? If you are using a cooking method that requires rice to be soaked first, such as cooking in a regular pot, around 30 minutes to one hour is a useful general guideline. Rice absorbs ...

When you first start buying condiments in Japan, the storage rules can be surprisingly confusing. Soy sauce, mayonnaise, mentsuyu, and many other sauces are often sold on regular supermarket shelves. So it is easy to assume they can stay in the kitchen cupboard after opening too. I made that mistake myself. One summer, I happened to read the small Japanese label on the back of an opened soy sauce bottle and noticed that it said to refrigerate after opening. I ended up checking half the condiments in my kitchen that afternoon. The main thing I learned was simple: Where a condiment is stored before opening does not necessarily tell you where to keep it after opening. Quick Answer: Which Condiments Go in the Fridge? As a general guide: Usually check for refrigeration after opening: soy sauce in standard bottles, miso, mayonnaise, ketchup, mentsuyu, ponzu, salad dressing, and many bottled sauces Usually fine at room temperature: salt and sugar Always check the product label: vinegar, hon-m...

Living in Japan, I cook rice often, and freezing leftovers has become one of the easiest ways for me to avoid waste. Instead of leaving rice in the rice cooker for hours, I usually divide the extra rice into small portions and freeze it. On busy days, it is convenient to take out one portion and reheat it in the microwave. But every now and then, I find an older package at the back of the freezer and wonder: How long does frozen cooked rice actually last? For homemade frozen rice, about one month is a practical guideline for maintaining good quality . Panasonic Japan also gives roughly one month as a storage guideline for frozen cooked rice. That does not mean rice suddenly becomes unsafe the day after one month. The main issue is that the texture and flavor gradually get worse during frozen storage. For everyday use, I keep the rule simple: Freeze rice while it is still fresh, try to use it within about one month, and eat the older portions first. How Long Does Frozen Rice Last? If yo...

Summer in Japan brings intense heat, thunderstorms, and typhoons. It can also bring something I do not usually think about until bad weather is approaching: a power outage. When I prepare for a typhoon, I normally check our drinking water and look around outside for anything that could blow away. But recently I started thinking about the refrigerator too. If the electricity goes out in the middle of August, how long will the fridge stay cold? Do the meat, fish, and milk have to be thrown away? And what happens to everything in the freezer? The first thing to remember is simple: keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed. As a general food-safety guideline, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says a closed refrigerator can keep food safe for up to about four hours during a power outage. A full freezer can hold its temperature for approximately 48 hours, while a half-full freezer may last about 24 hours if the door stays closed. Those times are useful guidelines, not guarantees. A ver...