www.tokyozebra.com/cc Help create subtitles in different languages for the community here tokyozebra.com/merch Help support the channel and get my Tokyo Merch paolofrom.tokyo/discord Connect with my Japan Discord community for Japan travel questions Get 10% off with my link on Squarespace - squarespace.com/paolofromtokyo
Paolo!! I’d suggest doing a video on Japan’s recycling system, since there’s a lot of people who are concerned about Japan’s packaging using too much plastic. They have a really thorough system!
Yeah except I'm sure they're having similar problems to the US and UK and struggling to actually recycle what's recycled. Also those ziplock style pacakges (soup pouches, the quail eggs, candy etc) won't be recyclable anywhere.
Been living in Japan for almost 20 years. The refills are definitely my favorite. Because of them I’m still using the same soap, shampoo and conditioner bottles for 5-10 years. I’m proudest with my 11 year old fabric softener bottle. 😂 Of course I clean them often. I’ve saved so much money because they’re generally cheaper to purchase. If only other countries especially the US practices this.
lot more waste is generated because you don't get as much as where you would if you buy the bottle. plus now you have two types of things to recycle, the starting bottle and the refill pack. then you also factor in the impact making all of those refill packs has over just making the bottles themselves which hold more. the only reason anything works over there recycling wise is because they are very strict about it. even then not everything can be recycled but that's never talked about. recycling isn't magic, it's not free in any aspect. convenience has a cost, as does everything. transporting all of that extra waste isn't free, even if they can recycle 100% of the packaging. over here in the US it's not pretty, at all. however sugar coating Japan's over production of plastic isn't the best idea. that's not even talking about the REASON people in Japan like packaged stuff that way. they are all over worked, the packaging came out of a need to waste less time and people making profit off of that. the underlining issue driving the packaging convenience is due mostly to being expected to work your entire life away. it's not something to strive towards. companies should be 100% responsible for all waste they generate, that includes packaging. if that was the case you would find that all products would very quickly shift from convenience to whatever makes them the most money. which would certainly be large containers (bulk goods), not individually wrapped food particles.
@@rocksfire4390 The plastic pouch requires MONUMENTALLY less resources to produce than a dispense bottle. I'll bet it's less resource intensive to make even 10 or 20 of those pouches than just 1 dispense bottle.
@@georgebrantley776 doubtful. you are overstating by a monumentally amount. that bag is about 150% the size of the container hes filling and it doesn't even fill it up all the way......so little volume from those refills. also you would be dead wrong, at best it might be 3-1 (refill bag vs bottle). it's also much easier to use injection molds for bottles then it is to create a thin sheet, cut it, shape it, fill them and finally seal them. plus recycling those bags seem like a nightmare. then you gotta think of how those bags are transported. seeing how weak they are they cannot stand up on their own in a transport setting. thus they need extra packaging to keep them from being crushed. plus bottles can be reused if companies where forced to take responsibility for the containers they push out to make their profit. could get easily 50+ refills out of bottles by the time they would even start to show signs of damage.
When I moved back to my home country after living in Japan for a few years, I found myself missing the thoughtful packaging from Japan - simple but thoughtful things like having the opening notches (like the ones for the quail eggs). I would get slightly homesick for Japan every time I struggled to open a package lol
When I tell people about Japan, I say it's "from the future". Simple little details like this illustrate how Japan is twenty years ahead of everywhere else. Thanks, Paolo!
I had a friend growing up who for some reason could never open those properly, no matter how many times she tried, I thought it was so funny. That packaging is pretty awesome though
I spent the entire year I was in Japan eating onigiri every day (alongside other food) because it was so good and the smart packaging was just mind blowing. Also the fact that you can buy boiled and salted eggs in every convenience store. Man I miss eating there.
I feel like this video came across as more genuine and less corny than it can sometimes be (still enjoy these videos too often) - really enjoyed it! It felt fresh :)
I could see the vacuum seal for some of the higher quality soy sauces. Meanwhile my family has a half used gallon jug of kikkoman in the pantry that's probably 10 years old. It tastes a tad different, but overall still edible.
I love the frustration-free packaging. I bought some Japanese sunscreen, and the front of the package was perforated. All you had to do was peel off the plastic. No scissors needed. Wish Costco would do this with their toothbrush heads. You have to cut into the hard plastic and then there are sharp edges. But I get why we can’t have nice things b/c people steal stuff :( I’ve seen open snack bags often in stores.
Don't you hate it when you have friends or family visiting and you're about to cook them something only to find out you ran out of _cooking liquid_ ? 😩
These designs are so convenient! I'm always impressed by Japan's thoughtful products and packaging. It's the little details that make life easier. I noticed this when I was in Japan and before the clerk handed me my paper shopping bag, she put tape around the thin, rope handle. Normally, that would dig into your hand or arm, leave a red mark, and it's not very comfortable. That small detail helped, and she didn't have to do it. I've never seen it done anywhere but in Japan.
That’s so cool and helpful! I took a photo of the washi tape they used to seal my Mister Donut bag. It said, “Thank you, beautiful people.” So random but I loved it lol
Just recently, the plastic seals have been eliminated to protect the environment Instead of plastic seals, they have designed a cat ear shape on the lid which can be used to holding down the edges.
I lived for a while in Japan, the harshest thing about living there for me was the food portions. Just like the one nugget bento, convenient and very neat, but as a foreigner it takes forever to get used to the "normal" amount of food in a single bento
Love to see "A Day in the life of a recycling worker". All I see in Japan is plastic, plastic, plastic. Sealed containers (cup noodles) in plastic? Banana's in plastic?
All of the meticulous details Japanese companies put into their products is usually very ingenious and helpful to their consumers. I remember I was using a protractor cutter for a design class and my blade got dull and thought to myself I had to buy some more. Then I looked at this little corner compartment and opened it and low and behold a stack of blades fell out! Looking good Paolo! I hope I can come back to Japan after the pandemic dies down and bring my new little family with me.
日本の食や文化をRU-vidで発信しているジュンジローと申します。いつも楽しく動画拝見させていただいてます。撮影や編集の仕方とても勉強になります！次回の動画も楽しみにしてます！My name is Junjiro, and I'm a RU-vid fan of Japanese food and culture. I always enjoy watching your videos. I learn so much from the way you shoot and edit! I'm looking forward to your next video!
It shows how meticulous Japanese culture and technology is, and I also feel how I wasted many opportunities in my past Japan trips not knowing these details, such as one for pudding and cup noodle tape! Thanks for another great video, have a great weekend~ :D
Loved this vid. I like Japanese ingenuity. Although sometimes it can be a bit unnecessary. Loved Maiko’s “tsukkomi” too. It gave a good balance to the vid and make it more natural.
where i live, in the uk, we have something very similar to that pudding one. when you get crème caramel from the supermarket, you tip it upside-down on the plate (obviously with the lid off) and then peel a tiny rectangle of foil from the bottom. there's a little hole under the foil so the suction is instantly released and it just slips onto the plate without having to squeeze it or anything (and they always have actual liquid caramel too)
I love Japan so much. So much thought goes into everything. Paolo, one thing you forgot to highlight is a key feature unique to all Japanese packaging: every package or box opens the first time, every time, in the right place! Here in the USA, I think maybe 5% of packages open correctly, if that many. So frustrating after being in Japan. Thanks for the video!
Except it is for profit. Because if your product has a longer shelf life you can sell it cheaper and therefore shift more of it. Also it means if there's a lull in demand you don't have to keep producing as much at a loss because the stock you have already made is good for a while longer.
Too much plastic packaging used in Japanese packaging. They often wrap every single sweet too. Too much waste and very bad for environment. Innovative eco-friendly packaging is the future, not innovative plastic packaging.
Such interesting solutions to problems most people have, never noticed that tab on the bottom of noodles. Real shame a lot of these plastic wrappers are non-recyclable though, would be good to see more innovation from Japan in that space.
I think these plastic are for air seal to prevent smell or water get into the cup. In reality even if food are packed by paper. The paper itself are also have plastic layer. So it just use more other resource with plastic. And more resource to make that paper. Sometime food in jp extra warped for emergency situation and make it last longer. (Flooding, earthquake etc) There are also a eco version of the cupnoodle package for camping. It don't have the cup.
You missed one of my favorites that a lot of people don't know about: The little plastic triangle piece on the lift-up flap of those tiny disposable coffee creamer containers that you get at some restaurants, on airplanes, etc. When you lift up the flap slightly, you can take that little plastic piece off and use it to poke a hole in the top of the container, equalizing the pressure so that when you open it all the way, you don't get any creamer spurting out on your finger. One of those "who even knew this was a problem?" kind of things, but if you ride on airplanes a lot, as I used to do, it makes a lot of sense. I agree that packaging where I'm originally from (the U.S.) is often frustration-inducing. (Like those "Press in to open" labels on boxes--Macaroni and Cheese, anyone?--where you end up just ripping the top off anyway?) Japan, on the other hand, offers some great, innovative packaging but relies on an awful lot of plastic to do it.
Great video! Thanks for sharing all the unique things we are so spoiled to have in Japan. With the refillable soap, not sure if you noticed, but in many store, the price for the refills are often more expensive or same as a new bottle price. It's good to be eco friendly, but seems strange that the price is the same or in some cases more expensive. I think most people don't do the math to calculate the price per ml, so they assume refillable are cheaper.
We love your selection for this video! The bit of extra thought put into each product makes all the difference. It's easy to miss when you're living in Japan so it's great to see this through your fresh perspective!
Please can you possibly do a day in the life of a Japanese convenience store worker it’s really interesting I think. I also work in retail and I want to know the differences between the retail practices in Japan and western countries
Fun video! That "pudding" is actually flan and they were already sold with those cups in France at least 40 years ago. I don't know where they originate from, but I just thought I'd mention it.
I am fairly new to your channels. I’m not sure how I came across them, but I’m so glad I did! You all are entertaining, informative, and just plain fun! Keep it up!
Oh man, I wish chip bags had double notches too. When my family eats out of a family-sized bag of potato chips until it’s almost empty, my dad always cuts it horizontally halfway down the bag with scissors lol
I had never seen a video that was more focused on just you with the products,and I found that I really enjoy your upfront in the camera style and it seems more comedic than the Day in The Life
Double notch is my favorite. When I eat chips I hate getting my knuckles all greasy from the bag but I also don't want to pour them into a bowl and have a dish to wash so I trim the bag with scissors or honestly if I don't have scissors around I sometimes make a notch with my teeth and tear a piece off more and more the further into the bag I get. Double notch is genius because it's basically what I do with chips and things so it'd be nice to have that on all bags of snacks.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the second notch. I hate sticking my hand in a bag and being able to tear the package in half once you get the treats from the top..... *chef's kiss* would love this for chip bags.
When it first showed up in Hawaii, it was called Cup O' Noodle. This was way back in the 70's. I don't know when it changed to Cup Noodles. As for that little tape, I haven't seen it here in California yet. I like to buy the Curry Cup Noodle from Daiso. Handy for when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to eat a lot.
One Japanese packaging innovation I wish the US would pick up--I saw this on Japanology a while back, so I have no clue if this is still even a thing over there, but drink bottles where instead of removing the cap entirely, they remain attached with a couple of plastic strands, designed for commuters to be able to manage them more easily when their other hand is full.
This is very interesting and it brings packaging into a totally whole different level, so creative, organized and thoughtful for the consumer but tbh its also too much of plastic usage for small amount of food/product and some of it doesn't even seems necessary. E.g. that whole mini plastic tray for 1 nugget. Considering the plastic consumption worldwide has been increasing day by day, it would be great for us to reduce plastic usage as much as we can. Still i really enjoyed the video Paolo!
one package that amazed me when i went to japan on a holiday was an onigiri package: the seaweed and the onigiri itself were packaged in different compartments, so the seaweed remained dry and crunchy, but the pachage was made in a way that you just had to pull on a strip, take away the plastic and the onigiri and the seaweed would just come together in your hands done. Then you could enjoy your 100yen onigiri with hout the seaweed beeing soggy ad chewy.
6:03 in Mexico, we also cut our chips at the side of the bag because it has a wider neck for topping like cheese,chamoy, hot sauce, corn, ECT! " Sabritas preparados" best to share or big snack !
@@zipit7089 Too much plastic packaging used in Japanese packaging. They often wrap every single sweet too. Too much waste and very bad for environment. Innovative eco-friendly packaging is the future, not innovative plastic packaging.
There is a lot of plastic in the packaging in Japan in Euroe we tend to avoid it, that's why maybe we don't ghave many of these prepacked ready stuff, just a thought.
That sauce packet- that two in one sauce packet they used to put in Lunchables here in the states back when they first came out. I never liked the herbed sauces they included, but I loved squeezing them out.
We’ve had a single sauce version of that dispenser here in Aus since the early 90’s made by Masterfoods. Popular takeaway food and bakery condiment! You can get tomato sauce (similar to ketchup), mustard, tartare sauce and BBQ sauce.
3:40 yo Paolo, Nissan’s actually the car manufacturer… the Cup Noodles manufacturer is called Nissin, just a little vowel typo thought that I let you know
what about emergency food, it’s the most awesome thing that I have ever seen, you don’t need fire to heat it, just a chemical reaction and you have freshly cooked food wherever you go.
@@eliaarce3077 I like the Japanese ekiben (train bento lunch) the most! They look so nice and have an assortment of foods in them and there’s so many types. They also have the pull string heating bentos at their train stations.
Knorr is now owned by Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch company which own over 400 brands and is universal, so Knorr is world wide. Although actually in Japan it's not distributed by Unilever but by a company called Ajinomoto. In some countries it's not called Knorr, but it's the same products just called something different. Definitely the best instant soup, bouillon and pasta packets!
Lots of creme brûlée’s have those notches on the bottom to help open it. In Britain they have a little bit of tin foil you pull of and there’s a hole underneath that then the air comes through. In New Zealand there are two tabs but sometimes when you push on them they just bend instead of breaking, maybe that’s why there’s two of them,
11:47 The culture dependent on large amounts of plastic for everything in Japan as long as its products look better aesthetically and sell more amazes me every time I see it. While in many countries caring for the planet and reducing plastic is important, in Japan they have plastic packaging inside the packaging so that you can eat just one cookie ... they are addicts of Matrioshka-style plastic.
To be fair unlike north america they actually have recycling centres and the processing facilities to do so, unlike most of north america where we sort the recycling to sell it to other countries to hope they recycle it for real 😂 If this were packaging here in north america I would whole heartedly agree that this is wasteful regardless of how consumer friendly the packaging is
@@jendubay3782 true but here in canada we have recycling faculties that claim to recycle thin plastics like plastic bags 🤷♀️ thankfully a lot of cellophanes and others are very easily biodegradable! So we'll likely keep getting better at recycling these things
In the US there is a rice brand in microwavable pouches where instead of the vent hole on the face, there is an intentional weak spot where the edge is fused together that pops open when the steam pressure builds inside. As a bonus, there are a couple of places on the edge where it is fused farther in that gives you places to grab the pouch without getting burned. We also have ketchup packets that are a rectangular bowl with foil on top. You have the choice of either breaking off a corner to squirt it onto the food or peeling off the foil to dip the food into the bowl.
Yeah, same here in Spain (and I would say for quite a bit more years, hehe). But it does fit well in this collection, it's the same kind of little details that make packages more convenient.
In Ireland we have the same technology with the pudding. Instead of plastic notch we have a metal strip that you pull off the bottom. We also have some easy to use refill bags for hand wash etc. We have the ready to use bags of vegetables that steam releases from in the microwave. As for the pot/cup noodle we all just put our fork on top to hold the lid down like you do. It means less packaging. I would be concerned about the amount of packaging there is in Japan, but I love the country ❤️
God, I took home that Kikkoman Sauce and I was astounded that it has airpockets at the sides. Also for the ketchup and mustard packets. Japan technology is the best ❤
“I’m just so used to growing up, like, with that Costco mindset.”🤣 so, well put. What? Chicken nuggets aren’t supposed to come in industrial sized package to feed your entire little league team?
made me laugh when you wrote Nissan in the explanation for the Nissin cup noodle haha I was like "wait, Nissan are making noodles now??" so confused for a second w love your videos ;)
In the US some people try to reduce cooking in “plastic” packaging or containers. Do Japanese worry about cooking in all that packaging? It’s pretty neat, but idk if I would do it.
Paolo in front of the camera with Maiko in the background is making my day so hard! hahahaha Makes the video so much more fun! Love you guys!! And thanks for this episode! Japan is so kawaii and innovative. You can see that these Japanese companies think of the consumer.
Oh! The bottle refills invention is so good, that it should be standardized worldwide!! Not having to throw away a bottle and just use the same one save so much wastes!
