In Japan, it is traditional to bring gifts back to family and friends when you return from a trip. They are called "omiyage" (pronounced oh-me-yah-gay), and they are a big business here. The airport in Fukuoka looks more like a mall than an airport: omiyage shops are packed side by side before and after the security gates.
I've seen loads of special mochi, ceramics, and sweets being sold as omiyage all over Japan. However, fish souvenirs and fish eggs as omiyage was new to me. It's apparently a local Fukuoka specialty, and there were at least three big shops selling just...fish. Lovely displays of fish and pink tube-shaped fish eggs.
Joe, our local friend here, bought some as a snack in Ishigaki. I'll let you know how they taste. :P Some of the displays were quite expensive - a low-end omiyage package was ¥1,000, or about $10, and a higher-end package was ¥5,000 - $50! Must be really tasty eggs.
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| All different types of fish eggs |
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| Gift-wrapped fish |
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| An example wall of fish egg types? |
Our new home-away-from-home is Yonaguni Dive Shop (YDS) on Yonaguni Island, the most western-point in Japan (and a hop skip and a jump to Taiwan). YDS has a nice guest house attached to the dive shop, so you can dive, sleep, eat, and collapse in the same location. Prices include breakfast and dinner, while lunch is included if you go on a dive.
The bottle to the right of Devlin in the picture is Aomori (ah-oh-more-ee), an Okinawa rice vodka. It's quite tasty on its own, and the tradition is to put a couple big chunks of ice in your glass, and pour the Aomori over it. Joe likes to drink it mixed with orange juice or grapefruit juice, which makes it dangerously easy to drink. I only had a bit last night, but it's really cheap here compared to anything else - the bottle in the picture was about $5.50!
