Thank you small refrigerator, thank you small apartment.

Japan is of course famous for its people living in high density urban areas, which we normally attribute to some combination of high property values and cultural preference. Yet even outside urban areas where land prices are much cheaper (or free), the penchant for living in small spaces persists. Some people call living in very small places crazy -- but I call it efficiency. 

My refrigerator is small, really only slightly larger than the one I had in college. And the little guy I had then was used primarily to keep beverages at low temperatures rather than to preserve the quality of vegetables, dairy products, and meats necessary to cook for oneself. Unlike in college, when quick eating solutions were the name of the game, I now consider myself a normal person who tries to cook for himself most of the time. But with my small refrigerator, I have 3 obvious options: 1) go shopping about every 3 days, 2) eat out, and 3) slurp cup ramen every day and die in my early forties.

I think most normal people, especially those with families, select obvious option #1. Since small fridges (and freezers) make us shop more often, the demand for a high number of grocery stores is established. This equates to, especially in a city, a network of small shops and medium-sized supermarkets. In fact, convenience stores, about every 3 blocks in Japan, typically stock vegetables, dairy, meat, etc. Personally I choose the local market most of the time because it's closest and go to the medium sized supermarket about once a month to get things not sold at the small market. The convenience store is for when the market is closed.

Things are also naturally sold in smaller sizes (the largest size of milk sold is a liter), which adds to the need to shop more often. And when we shop more often and goods are sold more quickly, surely less preservatives are necessary. Since living spaces are also small, storage space for dry (processed) goods is limited. In turn, the demand for dry goods is low, and they occupy very little shelf space in supermarkets. I'm certainly beginning to belabour this perhaps, but I think it's possible to see the connection between small refrigerators and fresher, healthier eating, as well as a local, market culture that trumps the large supermarket culture. 

Communities are also enlivened, as even if we make the choice to eat out, we inevitably eat somewhere close to home, which will more often than not be a small mom-and-pop eatery -- which ALSO has a small refrigerator... 

But...

...things are changing. From my experience, those who live in newer homes and even newer, larger, Western style apartments, tend to have larger refrigerators. On the other hand, friends of mine with families living in older homes and apartments typically have smaller fridges. Looking at what's for sale at Yodobashi, one of the larger electronics / home appliance stores, I noticed that about 80% of fridges currently for sale were between 400 and 500 liters, about the size of a Western fridge; 20% were of the ~100 liter small size. These newer fridges will most likely be more energy efficient -- but they'll be larger, so I'll inevitably buy more than I need, and probably larger sizes as well. Japan has not been immune to the big-box shopping culture, and I'll probably drive my car to a big-box shopping center and buy some economy size items. I'll definitely want to stock up on frozen, processed foods since they'll make my life easier. Then since I'm hungry while I'm shopping, I'll probably grab something quick to eat in one of the fast food places attached to the center, since that's my only option...

If I have to buy a new fridge, I'm gonna buy a small one. It'll still be energy efficient. It will keep me outside the house, supporting my local community of shops, interacting with people, and encouraging me to buy only what I need and what I'm going to eat in the very short-term. And since things are all nearby, I'll hardly be inconvenienced. 

Thanks little fridge.