I love raw fish. Ever since I was a student and did a study abroad in Nagasaki all those years ago I have enjoyed eating it. My host mother back then was adamant that I try new things and even though it was tough I am thanking her today for the strange things she made me eat (raw horse being among them). So the other day when I saw a bright yellow sale sticker on a thing of sashimi (raw fish), 2 for 500 yen (about $5), at a local supermarket my hand automatically reached out to pick some up. It stopped midway as the image I was seeing reached the analytical part of my brain. Something was not quite right.
It is a phenomenon that happens often here in Japan. You see a ‘sale’ sign in a store window or ‘bargain’ written above a bin of something or other and you decide to take a look. As you browse through you begin to notice something strange. Even through it says ‘sale’ or ‘bargain’ in the front in reality it is nothing of the sort.
It seems to be a perpetual season of sales here but without any of the discounts. Those bright yellow, orange, and red signs are akin to the Christmas lights people leave on their bushes until late summer or just don’t bother to take down at all in hopes that no one will notice something is out of place.
Take for example a clothing store I used to frequent (my last trip to the US removed my need to buy cloths here in Japan). Finding things that fit in this country is rare but at this place they sometimes had something that I both liked and that fit so when I saw a sale sign (different then the one they usually have up in the window) I headed in for a look.
I entered, moving to a shelving unit of jeans in the back with a ‘sale’ sign hanging over it. After picking up pair after pair looking for a discount tag I finally flagged down an employee and asked, “How much do these cost?” He replied, “Oh, it’s written on the tag.” “Yes, I realize that but these were sitting on the ‘sale’ rack so how much are they?” He gave me a puzzled look, “The price is on the tag.” The clean white sheen of the manufacturers recommended price ($150) stared up at me. “But what is the sale, what is the discount.”
“There is none. The price is cheaper than the new ones so it is a ‘sale’.” I shook my head, “Let me get this right, there is no discount, no sale, but it is on the ‘sale’ rack?” “Yes” he answered with a confident smile. “Okay…”
So there my hand was, halfway to picking out some sashimi for an evening snack when I took a closer look. Yes it was 2 for 500 yen, a decent deal, but then my eyes struck upon the normal price tag. I did a little math and came up with the saving I would get from taking advantage of this deal, 16 yen (about 10 cents). The bright yellow and orange sticker continued to stare up at me screaming its ‘good deal.’ Pass.
Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of actual sales and discounts here, you just need to look for them and do a bit of investigating. You can’t just trust that the thing is on ‘sale’ because a sign or a sticker says so.
That day I didn’t buy the 2 for 500 yen sashimi but I did go for some sushi a couple aisles down that was on sale for real at 350 yen (500 yen + a 30% time discount). Man do I love raw fish.
Only in Japan.
