Simply put, I want to check out some cool places for my youtube channel. There are a lot of hidden gems in Victoria and the island in general that I would love to be able to show people in Japan. I am thinking of doing three different series focused on showing off the area: one checking out different cute coffee shops and restaurants, one exploring different hiking or outdoor adventure locations, and one hitting up some lesser known travel destinations. By lesser known I mean the stuff that doesn’t make it on to the Japanese speaking corner of YouTube. Food culture is huge in Japan so I’ll spend a good chunk of time in So here’s the plan.
Coffee Shops:
One of biggest things I came to realize while living in Japan is the importance of food, drink, and food tourism to Japanese people. It is everywhere. There is an entire genre of dramas and animated shows dedicated to following characters as they eat and drink their way through the city or countryside. News anchors and reality show hosts spend a good portion of their time reporting and reacting to food. On almost every channel you will hear someone squeal “美味しい！” (Oishii-delicious) through a mouthful of food. YouTuber, Dogen, does a fantastic job poking fun at this phenomenon.
The obsession with food and travel is not limited to the TV screen either. If I ever went traveling somewhere on the weekend when I got back my co-workers would inevitably shuffle up to me in their school slippers, lean in with sparkling eyes and ask “How was your trip? What did you eat?” Considering how infrequently people asked “What did you do?” I could have swam with sharks and no one would have been the wiser.
If my coworkers knew where I had gone I could expect two things. First, they would list that location’s famous foods to find out which of them I had tried eating. Second, they would be waiting patiently and expectantly for me to pull out enough samples of souvenir snack food for the whole staff faculty to enjoy. ‘Tis the joy of お土産(omiyage) culture. You get to eat random souvenir (omiyage) snack food from all over Japan and neighbouring countries without leaving the comfort of your desk courtesy of your coworkers, but you also have to fork over anywhere between twenty to forty bucks in shareable snacks any time you let it slip you are traveling.
Because of this fascinating trait, I think it would be wise to show some restaurants and shops that have food and other aspects very unique to Victoria. Canadians don’t really have a wide variety of “Canadian” food outside of all things maple, and poutine, so I would also like to talk about the differences between Canadian and Japanese culture especially as to how it pertains to our relationship with food and the customs we hold surrounding what does and doesn’t constitute a souvenir. Many Japanese people traveling and living in Victoria have expressed to me how difficult it is for them to find appropriate souvenirs for their friends that don’t cost an arm and a leg so I think an episode or two on places to find bulk, “Canadian” food would also be fairly popular.
Many of my Japanese friends loved going to “おオシャレ(Oshare) coffee and tea shops. Finding these fashionable and aesthetically pleasing shops was a legitimate hobby for a surprising number of people. It was quite the event too. It seemed like everyone dressed to be just as oshare as the shop they went to. In the area I was living I don’t think I ever saw a Japanese person camping out at a cafe or a restaurant getting work done in the comfort of stretchy pants and a sweater. Berets, blouses, sweater cardigans, loose, high waisted pants and strappy purses adorned everyone regardless of gender as they sat and exclaimed over their immaculately arranged plates and cups of food and drink. Emphasis on sit and exclaim. It’s rude in many places to walk and drink at the same time so one simply must sit as they eat or drink. It may also potentially seem strange or troubling to the staff if you and your friends are in view of the chef or barista and you don’t have any reaction to your drinks or food. A Japanese friend working as a barista once asked me nervously whether my Canadian friends liked the drinks he served because they didn’t really react or comment that much as they drank. I’m not too sure about this point though. I know it doesn’t apply when you are eating and drinking by yourself. You’d look crazy if you did that.
Based on these observations I think it would be a good idea to bring a Japanese friend with me to a couple of really aesthetically pleasing spots and chat about how the coffee, tea or food tastes, and about Canadians restaurant and coffee shop culture.
