Jas Mart

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If JAS Mart’s stock is any indication, food shopping in Japan�even for workaday ingredients and simple snacks�must be intensely fun: Loud colors, mix-and-match typography, and bold graphics on almost every package make buying mayonnaise here better than browsing an art-book store. And while it isn’t gourmet shopping per se (at least not judging by the prices), the selection of often tricky-to-find, unusual, and prepared foods has been assembled with an eye for one-stop convenience. The utilitarian interior counters the riot of goods it offers, from plentiful Japanese staples to an array more unique items: Bean paste desserts in a number of flavors? Check. A year’s worth of dried hijiki? Right here. Ditto for rice crackers, seaweed salads, fish cakes, a mammoth cache of candy, and pickled, brined eggplant that radiates electric neon-blue from within its vacuum package. Rounding out the supermarket offerings are Japanese newspapers and magazines, making this a haven both for snack-curious locals and hungry students in search of salt, crunch, sugar, and more�without having to get an overseas visa. — Jonathan Dixon

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• A Guide to the Universe of Japanese Candy (10/27/08)
• Snack-man Fever (10/14/02)