We chat about videogames and videogame accessories.

Ok, so I went to Aoshima on the weekend and camped on the beach with a bunch of JETs. A bunch of people had to leave in a hurry because they were dumb buggers and got boxed in by hotel staff when they tried to load luggage in their parking lot, and me with the superior language skills had to negotiate an escape by apologising profusely.

Some good came out of it, though, because someone left behind two boxes of Tokyo Banana alongside the assorted crap and a decent water bottle. My neighbour (who organised the outing) reckoned it was a fair trade, and after trying one I did too.



Tokyo Banana are classified under omiyage, which are the obligatory souvenirs you have to bring back for colleagues/bosses/neighbours/friends when you make a trip out of town within Japan. Different prefectures and cities have their own signature omiyage, and Tokyo has Tokyo Banana. I don't think Miyazaki grows bananas, let alone Tokyo all the way up north, but that didn't seem to stop them.

They're kind of like a Hostess Snack but six million times better. I presume. I've never actually eaten a Hostess Snack. They're a banana-shaped super-soft sponge on the outside and banana... cream... custard... jam? Let's go with custard, on the inside. You know they're properly freshly made because their expiry date is only after a week or so.