I did some research online before going to Vancouver. My goal was to see as much "Japan stuff" as possible. It looked really promising online. They have a consulate in Vancouver for Japan and there's also a Japan social group, almost like a society for Japan enthusiasts. A lot of people kept mentioning a bunch a Japanese stores, especially south of Vancouver in the city of Richmond.
Overall, here is what I got from my experience in Vancouver Canada.
It definitely wasn't like what the internet mentioned. My expectations were very high so you can imagine I was a little disappointed in the outcome. I went on forums to see what people were saying about Japanese things in Vancouver. Mistake number one!
Forums don't guarantee the people actually know what they're talking about, and then it's not like you can go read their other stuff. It's literally like a chat room where that's the conversation and now it's over with. I was too confident in thinking these were reliable sources, but sadly those were my only sources as no one has talked about this topic before.
Here's some quick travel research advice: look for blogs to read over forums.
Physically going to Vancouver myself made me see there was less of a Japan presence that the internet neglected to tell me. Let's go over what Vancouver does have though.
 |
| Canadian flags outside of a Canadian clothing brand store in downtown Vancouver. |
Shopping
If you're looking to do some shopping for Japanese items in Vancouver, I do recommend going to Richmond. Richmond is a 30 minute drive, south from downtown Vancouver. It can be easily accessed through the train system by taking the Canada Line (this travel takes about 20 minutes). When you get to Richmond you will be welcomed by many Chinese stores and restaurants. What the internet forum didn't tell me was that Richmond was practically Chinese, which I still enjoyed but it was still disappointing at the same time (my expectations were crushed).
But in the end I did get to enjoy two or three Japanese stores in Richmond. There are two malls in Richmond that I went to: CF Richmond Centre and Aberdeen Centre. In the Richmond Centre, it is like any other malls with a bunch of familiar brands. But recently a Uniqlo opened up in that mall and that's exactly where I went. Literally, I went there for just one store. Uniqlo is my favorite Japanese clothing store and I always miss shopping there. And this store in Canada definitely satisfied my Uniqlo expectations. The sizing of everything was like a throwback of being in Japan. I had to really be careful of what size to get since this store still kept the Japanese sizing.
Next was the Aberdeen Centre which I had really high expectations for, and it kind of met those. My main goal at the Aberdeen Centre was their Daiso store. Daiso is a really cool dollar store with everything you can imagine and more. I love shopping there for cheap items when I'm in Japan but for the store in Canada I was looking for the food related items I miss from Japan. I was successful in finding Calbee brand chips and Mitsuya Cider (my favorite Japanese soft drink). There was also another store that was selling plushies, figurines and gotcha toys. This was a great store to browse. I even ate lunch at the Aberdeen Centre food court. The food court had many places to choose from, with about three Japanese places and the rest being Chinese (I did get to enjoy a Japanese crepe though).
Public Transportation/Walking
I knew before going to Vancouver that my group and I would be taking public transportation and walking everywhere. These two things really reminded me of all my times in Japan. I was truly impressed by how easy, accurate and convenient the trains and buses were in Vancouver. I invested in day passes during my four day stay in Vancouver that I got at a drug store called London Drugs. The day passes lasted all day on all the buses and trains I took. All you had to do was press the pass onto a scanner at the entrance of the bus and you're good to go. For the trains, just put the pass onto the scanner at the gate and then again when leaving the station (just like in Japan).
As for walking, Vancouver was a very walk-able city in my opinion. Even though it did have hills, I still found it to be an easy city to walk around. This reminded me of Japan, as I walk around a lot in Japan. I really love places that are walk-able, so this was a very nice aspect of Vancouver that brought me back to my times in Japan.
As for walking, Vancouver was a very walk-able city in my opinion. Even though it did have hills, I still found it to be an easy city to walk around. This reminded me of Japan, as I walk around a lot in Japan. I really love places that are walk-able, so this was a very nice aspect of Vancouver that brought me back to my times in Japan.
 |
| One view of the city from The Lookout. I met Japanese tourists here who compared The Lookout to Tokyo Skytree. |
Japanese Food
Vancouver is on the west coat of Canada, meaning it is very close to all the Asian countries. This means you can bet there were a lot of Asian restaurants there. Like I said previously, Chinese culture definitely dominates the area but you can still see bits of Korean and Japanese culture through the food you will discover in Vancouver, Canada.
I think I ate mostly Asian food while in Canada, to be honest. Vancouver is so close to these neighboring countries, you bet the food was legit! In my hometown I'm always trying to find places that remind me of my food adventures in Japan. It can be really hard to find that. I've found a few that are to my liking where I'm from but Vancouver has it made! They have the real deal. One of the Japanese foods I'm always trying to find that is identical to Japan is ramen. Ramen is my favorite food in Japan (I like soups and noodles). I was very pleased to find a ramen place in Vancouver that did it justice. Props to Hokkaido Ramen Santouka on Robson Street! It is a simple little ramen restaurant that served shio ramen (salt), miso ramen and spicy ramen, all in tonkotsu broth (pork base). I was in my happy place. It didn't hurt that they had Japanese melon soda either. I'm recharged and can now waiting until Spring 2019 for my Japan trip without going too crazy.
 |
| My already half eaten shio ramen. |
 |
| Legit melon soda floats!!! |
Even though my expectations were way beyond what they should have been, I still enjoyed myself in Vancouver. I made the best of what they offered me that was Japan related and it was a great little pre-Japan trip. If you are a fan of Japan and are in Vancouver, you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you see.
But I did just go to another country. I would have to be nuts not to enjoy Canada for what it is...Canada! After I was done operation "Find Japan in Vancouver," I enjoyed the more Canadian aspects of Vancouver and did lots of firsts. I ate even more food (poutine, Tim Horton's, maple fudge and Triple O's Burgers). I even was courageous enough to walk across the Capilano Suspension Bridge! It's very touristy, but was super fun (and nerve wrecking).
 |
| Trying to cross the Capilano Suspension Bridge. |
Thank you for reading my blog. Hopefully this will help you find a little bit of Japan in Vancouver, Canada. For more Japan content, follow me on social media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Also go subscribe to my new YouTube channel! Let's talk about Japan!
Until next time!