Miscellaneous

Some interesting things to explore food-wise...

DEPACHIKA
Enormous food halls in basements (chika, meaning underground) of department stores (depato), especially in Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. LOTS of things to sample and you can get quite full on just the freebies.
http://japanwelcomesyou.com/cssweb/display.cfm?sid=1251
http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/648/localflavors.asp
http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/tokyos-food-hall-craze
http://www.budgettravelonline.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2006/02/02/AR2006020201099_pf.html
NYT article on depachika

EKI-BEN (eki = train station, ben = bento boxes)
Tasty value from ¥500 onwards. Some may cost more than ¥2,000 and come packaged so beautifully like a gift box - is that silk wrapping I see? And Look at the variety on this page!! What can I say - I am a sucker for bento! Popular regular bento shops include Hoka Hoka Bento and Origin Bento!

KONBINI (Convenience stores)
Everywhere you turn, there is a 24-hr konbini! They carry a wide variety of ready-to-eat takeaway food. Most of them probably suck but one thing that's not too bad - onigiri!! Ohh, how I used to survive on those for breakfast! Yeah, and the larger konbinis have a bazillion snacks/drinks you have never seen before (featuring some of the infamous Japlish names). Tip: When the staff ask you "atatamete?", they are asking if you want your food heated up/microwaved.

FOOD THEME PARKS
Still wondering whether it's worthwhile to check one out...
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3035.html

FOOD LINKS
Tokyo Gourmet Navigator (in Japanese)
http://www.gnavi.co.jp/en/kanto/
English version here
http://www.gnavi.co.jp/en/