I thought this would be better posted under the Japan forum rather than the traveling with children forum because its food specific.

Our son will be eating finger foods by the time we goto Japan and we are going to bring food with us (considering shipping stuff to the hotel ahead of time).

However, what is common food for infants in Japan for 9months to a 1 year old? Do they have the same baby food we have in the US in their stores? If so, where are the typical stores to find such items?

Also, is it normally accepted to bring an infant out to dinner?

Will I be able to find food for him in the food halls? :D

If you have any specific restaurant recs that would be ok to bring an infant to that would be great.

Domo arigato

Here is a forum which may be helpful:

http://www.tokyowithkids.com/

There will be baby food available in most supermarkets, I take it you will be in Tokyo. There is usually a food hall in the basement of most department
stores, I am thinking of Shinjuku, Ebisu, around Roppongi and Hiroo but there will be posh supermarkets too that will also have imported goods. the Azabu National Supermarket is quite a well known one used frequently by a lot of American residents. Japanese baby food, (the fruity mush in a jar... which I've been known to buy for myself on the odd occasion :o :) ) as far as I know is the same as anywhere else, I have yet to see sardines and miso paste baby food!

As for Japanese children they will be starting to eat rice and a little bit of everything else, grilled fish, miso soup etc. but will still be drinking milk too.
As for eating out, there should be no problem taking your kids out to eat and children are welcome almost everywhere, but do beware as in the evenings most restaurants are geared towards smokers, with little consideration for non-smokers, no matter how young!

Regards, MrLapLap.

LapLap adds:
http://www.tokyofamilies.com/
couple of restaurant recommendations here: http://www.tokyofamilies.com/sections/foodSections.html

So is this our first joint LapLap/Mr.LapLap post? ;)
Looking forward to many more--

Instead of opening a new thread I'll just ask in this one as well.

What about restaurants? Food items etc.

Are they ok with babies in restaurants? I haven't come across any information regarding this at all. Do they have highchairs by chance (im guessing the answer will be "some places")?

Instead of opening a new thread I'll just ask in this one as well.

What about restaurants? Food items etc.

Are they ok with babies in restaurants? I haven't come across any information regarding this at all. Do they have highchairs by chance (im guessing the answer will be "some places")?

As with anywhere, some places have high chairs, others don’t. Nevertheless, there are so many thousands of restaurants in Tokyo, it won’t take too long to come across one that can accommodate you – there’s no need for high chairs if you’re all sitting on the floor! Most likely the staff will provide extra cushions if required.

As MrLapLap said (who is Japanese), your problem is more likely to be the smoking policies even in the most family friendly places (such as ‘jonathan’s’ and ‘dennys’ – both of which have child menus).

As for what your child is prepared to eat… rice is always available, tempura (once allowed to cool down) should be a safe option, hamburger sets are quite common and popular amongst infants. I’d advise encouraging your child to try miso soup. If he/she likes natto you’ll have an easy time. Yakisoba (fried noodles) is messy but is another children’s favourite.

To be honest, you shouldn’t have too many difficulties in finding acceptable food in regular menus. I believe Japan is probably the easiest country in Asia in which to find food that a Western child would be happy to eat.

People in Japan are extremely kind and extremely accommodating towards children & babies. With a few exceptions (because there are grumpy people everywhere!) I have no doubt that everyone will bend over backwards to help find something suitable.

The links provided by jib71 & myself included several restaurants geared towards children (which are likely to be smoke free). Do you have any comments on these? I’m still not sure what it is you’re actually looking for.

EDIT: I definitely saw high chairs in the Royal Host in Shinagawa (on the road that goes up and away from Shinagawa station to the left of Le Meridien.

“Royal Host” is a family diner with a mix of popular Japanese food and let’s call it ‘fusion style’ American food. Along with “Denny’s” & “Jonathan’s” (I think there might be another one called “Skylark” which I’m unfamiliar with) these are actually quintessential Japanese experiences in their own right. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the coloured beads that adorn high-chairs in a corner of all of the ones I’ve visited (please note that I only frequent these places at breakfast time which is why my memory is even more hazy than usual).

“Royal Host” is a family diner with a mix of popular Japanese food and let’s call it ‘fusion style’ American food. Along with “Denny’s” & “Jonathan’s” (I think there might be another one called “Skylark” which I’m unfamiliar with) these are actually quintessential Japanese experiences in their own right. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the coloured beads that adorn high-chairs in a corner of all of the ones I’ve visited (please note that I only frequent these places at breakfast time which is why my memory is even more hazy than usual).

Actually, the chain is called Skylark Gusto, which is a great bit of Japanese English in itself.

Between American fast food and the chains mentioned above, you'll be able to find enough for your child to eat. Milk is safe to drink, and several Kellogg's cereals are available. Convenience stores sometimes carry an instant "kayu" (simlar to hot rice cereal).I've seen strained baby foods in stores, but not having children myself, I never paid much attention to the flavors or varieties.

For snacks your kid will probably like "senbe" which are rice crackers.

For snacks your kid will probably like "senbe" which are rice crackers.

For an 11 month old this is highly unadvisable.

Pieces of rice cracker once bitten on can be quite sharp, and don't dissolve too easily (unlike rusks which do). I would say these constitute a real choking hazard.

Please don't even think of giving this to a child unless they are of the age where you are happy to let them chew unsupervised.

On a similar level, please don't give children any products or foods made of mochi (gelatinous, chewey pounded rice). It's very typical to eat this at New Year and every year there are reported deaths, typically by old folks who choke on this. (It comes in many guises and is a typical delicacy in Kyoto - pale pink, called 'Hanabira-mochi' - or my favourite 'aburi-mochi'))

I hope I haven't sounded too alarmist, apart from obvious things like chicken & fish bones, I can't think of any other potential dangers you won't have thought of for yourself as a parent.

For an 11 month old this is highly unadvisable.

Pieces of rice cracker once bitten on can be quite sharp, and don't dissolve too easily (unlike rusks which do). I would say these constitute a real choking hazard.

Please don't even think of giving this to a child unless they are of the age where you are happy to let them chew unsupervised.

On a similar level, please don't give children any products or foods made of mochi (gelatinous, chewey pounded rice). It's very typical to eat this at New Year and every year there are reported deaths, typically by old folks who choke on this. (It comes in many guises and is a typical delicacy in Kyoto - pale pink, called 'Hanabira-mochi' - or my favourite 'aburi-mochi'))

I hope I haven't sounded too alarmist, apart from obvious things like chicken & fish bones, I can't think of any other potential dangers you won't have thought of for yourself as a parent.
There are ones that are specifically for babies. My kids used to eat them all the time. They're fine.

There are ones that are specifically for babies. My kids used to eat them all the time. They're fine.

Any clues as to how to recognise these? Or where to get them?

Any clues as to how to recognise these? Or where to get them?

They're easily recognisable as the ones your baby doesn't choke on. If your baby chokes, you should buy a different type and try again. Better still - try them on someone elses baby first. ;)

Sorry the sick humour part of this post is now over. What follows is safe for consumption by caring parents -

It's probably best to avoid any senbei (rice cracker) that isn't on the "baby food" shelves of a Japanese supermarket. And when you're looking at the baby foods, if you see a box like this, you will know that it's full of senbei for babies:
http://www.beanstalksnow.co.jp/products/bf/detail/oyatsu/o2_03/main.html

You will be delighted to know that "baby Food" is now part of Japan's Katakana vocabulary ... If you pronounce the English words n a Japanese way, the folks at the supermarket will surely take you to the appropriate shelves. (Pronounce it as "Behbi Fu-do")

And now for today's easy Japanese phrases:

"Beh-bi Fu-do deska?" (Is this a baby food? (best to point at the item))
(If you say this and point at the person you're asking, it can mean "Are you a baby food?")

"Beh-bi Fu-do wa doko deska?" (Where is the baby food?)
(Purists prefer "dochira ni arimasuka?" but "doko deska?" gets the same result).

"Kore wa aka-chan yoh deska?" (Is this for a baby?)
(And yes, you could also say "Beh-bi yoh deska?" with the same effect).

Those restaurants on the site posted above are a little to old for an infant. Entertainment is a non-factor :). Especially ninjas that do magic tricks.

I'll be there for 3 weeks, although normally, I would not come close to a Denny's in other travels we may have to hit it once or twice.


On another note:
Is "deska" the polite version of a question as opposed to just using "des"? Whenever I hear people ask a question its always "des" and not "des-ka"

I'll be there for 3 weeks, although normally, I would not come close to a Denny's in other travels we may have to hit it once or twice.


They must have Royal Host in Kanto, which in my opinion, is better than Denny's.......

Is "deska" the polite version of a question as opposed to just using "des"? Whenever I hear people ask a question its always "des" and not "des-ka"

"Des" (usually transcribed as "desu") is a standard, polite form. Often it can be translated as "is" / "am" / "are".

"Ka" just indicates that the speaker asked a question. It is not related to politeness.

It's possible to turn a statement into a question without the "ka" if the speaker just "uplifts" the pitch at the end of the sentence. Actually you can do the same in English too "This is baby food?" (with a higher pitch for the word "food"). But adding "ka" will make it absolutely clear that you're asking a question.

(BTW - I once heard an audio recording of an American comedian who proposed that we make sounds in spoken English to convey punctuation. His crazy theory was that we would remove any possibility of confusion by doing this. He read some sentences with silly noises for the commas, question marks and exclamation marks etc. Hilarious sketch. I would love someone to tell me who that comedian was).

On another note:
Is "deska" the polite version of a question as opposed to just using "des"? Whenever I hear people ask a question its always "des" and not "des-ka"

Actually, it is the other way around. "ka" at the end of a sentence denotes a question, so "desu" - usually sounding like "dess" is the verb for the state of being. Is, am, are, etc. "desu-ka" - or "dess-ka" is more like "is?" or "am?", etc. So "genki desu ka" is somethiing like "are you well?" and "genki desu" is something like "I am well."

JR

p.s. - jib71 beat me to it and also makes a good point. Sometimes the question is implied through inflection, so you might not actually hear the "ka." Sort of like "hungry?" or "ok?" versus "hungry!" or "ok!"

[QUOTE=jib71(BTW - I once heard an audio recording of an American comedian who proposed that we make sounds in spoken English to convey punctuation. His crazy theory was that we would remove any possibility of confusion by doing this. He read some sentences with silly noises for the commas, question marks and exclamation marks etc. Hilarious sketch. I would love someone to tell me who that comedian was).[/QUOTE]

Not an American. That was a classic sketch by the great Danish pianist and comedian, Victor Borge.

JR

Those restaurants on the site posted above are a little to old for an infant. Entertainment is a non-factor :). Especially ninjas that do magic tricks.

Ouch!

It’s a shame I didn’t copy out the suggestions that were on the website when I originally posted the link.

They are very different now and not nearly as infant friendly as before.

It's possible to turn a statement into a question without the "ka" if the speaker just "uplifts" the pitch at the end of the sentence. Actually you can do the same in English too "This is baby food?" (with a higher pitch for the word "food"). But adding "ka" will make it absolutely clear that you're asking a question.
That doesn't work though. My ear says:

Akai. "Red."
Akai? "Is it red?"
Akai ka? "Red, is it?"
Akai desu. "It's red."
Akai desu ka? "Is it red?"

But "Akai desu?" doesn't make sense -- the 'desu' there serves to enforce that yes, it really is red, so it can't turn into a question by itself and the pitch never changes.

Deleted - Too OT

That doesn't work though. My ear says:

Akai. "Red."
Akai? "Is it red?"
Akai ka? "Red, is it?"
Akai desu. "It's red."
Akai desu ka? "Is it red?"

But "Akai desu?" doesn't make sense -- the 'desu' there serves to enforce that yes, it really is red, so it can't turn into a question by itself and the pitch never changes.

In colloquial Japanese, you can uplift the desu to denote a question without using a "ka". Not common but possible. For example, I might use:

Takai. "Expensive"
Takai desu? (rising su sound at the end) instead of Takai desu ka? because the former sounds less harsh e.g. when talking to a customer. I would only use the desu when in a formal situation. If I used "desu ka?" it sounds like I am agreeing with the customer that it is expensive whereas with just the "desu?" I am conveying a lesser degree of acceptance.

Not an American. That was a classic sketch by the great Danish pianist and comedian, Victor Borge.

JR

Just saw the sketch on BBC4 as part of 'The Pedants' Revolt'. (The guy holding the placard owns one of the biggest collections of 60's TV memorabilia - UFO, 1999 etc...)