Snacking and Drinking on the go in Japan

Tidy shelves at the konbini.

Everyone will tell you, it is rude to eat while walking in Japan. However, it does not mean that the frantic pace of Japanese life slows down during meal times. From experience, Japanese people, salary men in particular, tend to eat very fast. Moreover, snacking throughout the day instead of observing formal meals is quite common in Japan. During the Edo period, street food, chief among them sushi stalls, occupied a large place in growing cities landscape. This tradition is still alive in Japan’s largest cities where people often seek a quick bite during the few minutes of respite they have from the day’s work.