Welcome to another instalment in my ongoing series about how I deal with the internal drive to be back in Japan. I don’t really deal with it to be honest. Not at all. I crave the need to travel there again and constantly find myself looking up flights for deals and sales. I was also recently looking at accomodation options and took a great interest in capsule hotels. If you have not heard of a capsule hotel before then I recommend you YouTube it. You literally sleep in a capsule with a pull down shade to cover the entrance. They are comparatively cheap but I wonder if I could cope with the small space for a week long holiday. Japan I miss you.

I recently posted a blog about eating and cooking Japanese food as a means to keep the Japan vibe alive. You can check that out here. In that blog I touched on the existence of subscription services where you can get Japanese candy and soft drinks and foods delivered to your home. I subscribe to a product called Rame Box. I came across it somewhere on the internet. The idea is that you pay a monthly subscription and you are sent a box of instant noodle ramen every month. They box comes direct from Tokyo and they people running the service select new ramen products.  Some come in soft bags and others come in bowls. They are hugely popular in Japan and are mostly purchased from convenience stores.  Some, produced by renowned chef’s, are exclusive to certain convenience stores.

In essence they are instant noodles. Sounds simple but these are a big deal in Japan. They even have a a cup noodle museum in Osaka and a ramen museum in Yokohama. At one of these, I cannot recall which, you can make your own recipe of cup noodle and then decorate the foam cup before staff fill and seal your cup. With the ones I get delivered from Ramen Box, you simply add boiling water or boil the noddles in a small pot. Sachets are included that add flavour, dehydrated vegetables, seaweed, sesame seeds and some even come with dehydrated pork! Those are the fancy ones. Now keep in mind that these are obviously not a terribly healthy meal. They are certainly not a meal replacement and I only use them as a fun snack now and then. After all, I only get four instant ramen in my Ramen Box every month.

The customer service from Ramen Box is great. They email every month to notify when the box has been sent and also notify if there is any kind of delay. Within the box there is a printed sheet with a web address or QR code for you to access information about all the different types of ramen and also how to prepare them. If you want to take a look at Japan Ramen Box then hit them up here. Thank you for indulging my indulgences.