Let me remember how groceries were priced in Japan. Now I’m shopping groceries in Australia, I find some things can be even more expensive than purchased in Japan. For example, I felt the salad bag is too expensive here. 1 bag is about 500yen? Well, maybe the bag is 5 times bigger than the equivalent product in Japan. That’s possible…:p
One thing for sure is the prices certainly went up in general, compared with the time I was travelling around this country during 1999-2000. It’s not too much to say that the prices are almost the same or even expensive than those in Japan. Time has changed…
The following pictures were taken randomly in the local supermarkets near my apartment in Japan.
Bagel…1 bagel costs 119yen (tax included). I really hate that bagels are expensive in Japan. I know I can buy them at COSTCO, but my life is not compatible with it. 

Natto…1 natto (with 3 packages) costs 88yen. It’s pretty cheap! 

Tea…TWININGS Tea (20 tea bags) costs 399yen. I found the tea bags sold in Australia are slightly bigger than ours in Japan. Ours is designed for 160ml of water or something (not sure) but here it is designed for 220ml of water or something. I guess 1 cup is bigger here.
Rice…1880yen (5kg) and 3580yen (10kg). In Australia, I eat SUN RICE that is about 500yen for 2kg. Unexpectedly I don’t really miss Japanese rise so much. It was good to know that it doesn’t have to be Japanese rice, as long as it’s a tasty rice.

Japanese styled curry roux…178yen. It was surprising that I found Japanese curry roux at a general supermarket (Woolworth or Coles) in Australia!

Cabbage…350yen (whole) and 178yen (half). Sometimes quarter size is also available when the supermarket targets single or small family customers.

Sashimi…380yen (1 package), 680yen (2 packages) and 1000yen (3 packages). I like that we can get Sashimi very easily like this in Japan. 

Green peppers…158yen for 1 package (normally contains 5-6 green peppers). I hate this. Why don’t they sell it by the kilo? I don’t need 5 or 6 at a time always.

Shimeji mushrooms…98yen for 1 package

Apple…198yen for 1 apple, not 1 kilo! You can see how fruits are expensive in Japan. 

Banana…198yen for a bag of banana. Do we need a bag first of all? They could reduce the price without the bag or wrap, and that’s also eco friendly I guess…

Strawberries…598yen for 1 package (about 12 to 15 strawberries)

Snack-1…a bag of potato chips for 99yen

Snack-2…Pocky (9 small bags) for 238yen

Cup noodles…about 100-130yen per cup

Did I start missing Japanese food? No, not really. I noticed I will be OK as long as I can eat rice. I mostly eat either sandwich or pasta when I don’t eat rice with curry or fried rice or whatever. What did you think when you shopped at a grocery store in Japan? Did you feel some products were way too expensive or very reasonable?