Over the past couple of years I have twice offered lists of overrated and underrated aspects of Japanese life as seen from my bespectacled point of view. My glasses aren't exactly rose-colored, but neither do I have the evil-eye. These are just some friendly peeks and pokes at what I have come to like and not like in my many years here. So here goes. . . One more list — but probably not the last — of the best and worst in Japan.
Underrated — dried squid
Now this I have enjoyed since my very first Tokyo beer, three decades back. Dried squid can be as playful as string cheese and as addictive as a bowl of chips. Sometimes it's so hard to put that next tentacle down. Plus you can chew on it forever and, unlike Juicy Fruit, the flavor never goes away. For years I used to carry souvenirs of dried squid to America whenever I returned home. Everyone absolutely hated it. Which meant I had to eat it all myself. Making dried squid, to my mind, the perfect souvenir.