One Japanese market in the U.S. has found a clever way to lower the cultural barrier, though: endorsements from internationally beloved anime characters!
And yet, there’s one particular type of Japanese food I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed will catch on overseas: onigiri.
That can make it hard for those overseas Japanese food specialty shops that do sell onigiri to market them, since at first glance it might not even be clear what onigiri are.
Follow Casey on Twitter, where he remembers swinging by the local Nijiya Market after junior-year Japanese class in college.