The Floating Road in the Pacific: I Don't Thnk Its Going To Fall Out

Here on Okinawa when you go to the grocery store or a clothing store or any kind of store, it is customary to bring your own bag or pay 3 yen (3 cents) for a plastic one. Of course Jason and I always forget a bag. Not only is it an inconvenience for us to have to pay the 3 yen (really who cares), but the cashiers tape and tie everything shut. Now, this doesn't just happen at one grocery store, it happens at EVERY store. It happens at Makeman (the DIY store), Aeon (Japanese Super Wal-Mart), the pigeon store (I don't know the real name of it) and even the Family Mart (7-11). It even happens at fast food places like A&W, which the Japanese people love almost as much as Americans love McDonald's, Burger King and KFC.

For instance, at the grocery store, you might purchase chicken, pork tenderloin, and tuna. There aren't plastic bags to wrap your meat in like in America. You just put the package into your basket and they wrap it at the cashier. This is where the tape and small bags come in. Each separate item is wrapped in a small plastic bag and either taped or tied shut. There are multiple different colors of tape too. I assume each color means something? Who knows. I don't care enough to even try to ask.

Here is a bathroom rug I bought just today. Folded perfectly, stuffed into this nice little plastic bag and taped shut. These bags you do not have to pay 3 yen for. Its the large one that they put all the small ones into that you have to pay for...

Here are some of my other items:

This is the large bag that costs 3 yen. It is tied and taped shut in the middle. Not only are all the small bags that are inside this bag either tied or taped and the large bag itself is either tied or taped (or both) but the handle on the large bag is twisted to make one thicker, sturdier handle. You can only imagine how long it takes to check out.