Confession: I haven’t really experienced major “culture shock” since moving to Japan. Yes, I’ve only been here for two weeks, and yes, how can I know everything about Japan in just that time? Answer: I can’t.

However, as you may or may not have known, I studied Japanese language and culture for four years during college. Plus, I have in fact been to Japan before. I came into this country with a lot of prior background experience. As such, nothing really surprises me here.

That doesn’t mean, though, that I don’t notice the differences between Japan and the U.S. One big difference: groceries! So I put together a small list of grocery items that I noticed were…a bit different from the States. If you eat these on the regular, it may be good to know what you’re getting into here in Japan.

#1: Peanut Butter

Truth be told, I’m not as crazy of a peanut butter fanatic as many other Americans are. I like it, but I also don’t need it. But if you love peanut butter…oh man. You better brace yourself.

This is pretty typical in most countries outside of the U.S., but peanut butter is not really a major food item here in Japan. It’s not impossible to find, but it is ridiculously expensive.

You can get a jar this size for about ¥500 (about $4.50). You won’t find anything bigger than this in your neighborhood grocery store. And, to make matters worse, it’s always the Skippy brand, and they only sell the crunchy kind (sorry creamy peanut butter lovers!).

Clearly, one of my roommates thought it was worth it to splurge on the tiny peanut butter jar. Although, for the size to cost ratio, I personally just can’t bring myself to buy it.

If you absolutely need your peanut butter, there are better places to buy it than at your normal grocery store.

#2: Bread

As someone with a gluten-sensitivity, I really shouldn’t be buying bread in the first place. Especially since they don’t have gluten-free bread here in Japan. But I absolutely love my fried egg on toast in the morning. I can’t go without it for two years. So I decided to check out the bread situation.

Let me just say that large, bulk shopping portions are not really a thing here.

This is the largest loaf of bread I could find that wasn’t super fancy (read: expensive) and most closely resembled American bread slices. It cost maybe about ¥130–¥150 ($1.18–$1.36).

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This loaf is literally a cube of bread. This particular brand actually sells this same size loaf with varying numbers of slices. So, for the same price, you can either get ten normal width slices (as shown above), or you could get five SUPER THICK slices of bread. Same size of loaf; different number of slices. You can also get a 4, 6, or 8-slice loaf. All for the same price.

As much as I drooled over eating bread slices as thick as a dictionary, I had to aim for quantity on this one. The more slices, the more egg and toast breakfasts. Gotta be frugal, you know?

There are other loaves that technically have more slices, but they are either: 1) a specialty bread, or 2) the cute, tiny slices that are the size of your palm, usually served in Japanese cafes. (Although, I actually rather like these little slices.)

Like with the peanut butter, you can probably find larger bread loaves in Costco if you really need it. Otherwise, just make weekly trips to your local grocery store to restock regularly.

#3: Eggs

So I eat A LOT of eggs. No, not just a lot. An inordinate amount of eggs. I buy two dozen eggs for just me. And guess what? I eat them all before they go bad. They’re a cheap protein and full of omega 3’s and tasty goodness.

But you can’t buy a dozen eggs here in Japan. You can buy ten. Or six. But not twelve. Why? I don’t know; it doesn’t make sense to me either. The good news is they cost about the same in Japan as they do in the U.S. The bad news is that for that same price you get two fewer eggs. Bummer.

But that’s not the only thing I have to say about eggs. Let’s talk about the egg itself.

Eggs in Japan have extremely orange yolks, folks! Like, this picture doesn’t even do the color justice. It’s a bold, dark orange color, almost red sometimes. Vermilion, if you will. If you’ve ever eaten farm-fresh eggs, you’ll know what I’m talking about. They’re delicious and full of flavor! But it can be off-putting to visitors who are used to the yellow yolks of mass-produced American eggs.

My leery American friends, these eggs are nothing to be afraid of. They still taste like eggs—they’re just more orange. That’s all. I just wanted to give a head’s up so you don’t lose your head when you break into the yolk of a Japanese egg.

Japanese groceries are sometimes different, but that’s not bad. It just requires a little adaptation.