Ethnic Aikawa (1): Sabor Latino |A South American Supermarket Blending into the Neighborhood

Sabor Latino Aikawa

My friends Arai and his wife, who live in Bangkok, were temporarily back in Japan and staying in Atsugi this week. We decided to meet on Sunday, and he told me, “I’ll leave it entirely up to you where we go.”

In that case, there was no point in heading to an ordinary tourist destination.

We rented a car near Zama Station and drove to Aikawa, Kanagawa Prefecture. The theme for the day was exploring what I decided to call “Ethnic Aikawa.”
That does not mean Aikawa is generally known as an “ethnic town.” But as you drive around, South American and Southeast Asian shops appear here and there, creating a landscape that feels slightly different from an ordinary Japanese suburb.

Aikawa does, in fact, have a relatively large foreign population. One reason is the Kanagawa Inland Industrial Park, which extends across the eastern part of the town. Since the 1990s, the number of Nikkei workers and their families from Brazil and Peru employed at local factories and other workplaces has increased, gradually forming a South American community in the area. Today, Aikawa is also home to people with roots in Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, and many other countries.

So we decided to explore the town.

Our First Stop: Sabor Latino

It is about 15 kilometers from Zama Station to central Aikawa.

It sounds close enough, but the roads are relatively narrow for the amount of traffic they carry, and the drive ended up taking around 40 minutes.

Our first stop was Sabor Latino Aikawa, a supermarket along the prefectural road. “Sabor Latino” means something like “Latin flavor” in Spanish. Even from the outside, it looks quite different from a typical Japanese supermarket.

Once inside, the atmosphere changes even more.

The conversations around us were in Portuguese and Spanish, while the shelves were filled with products rarely seen in ordinary Japanese supermarkets. Most came from Brazil and Peru, mixed with products from elsewhere in Latin America.

There was also a small food counter serving not only Brazilian and Peruvian dishes but even Argentine choripán.

Rather than feeling like a Japanese supermarket that happens to sell imported foods, it felt more like an everyday South American neighborhood store that had somehow been transplanted directly into Aikawa.

The Meat Section Is Unmistakably South American

Most of the meat on display was beef and pork.

The cuts and packaging were different from those typically seen in Japanese supermarkets, making the meat section interesting just to browse. There was an especially large selection of processed pork products.

Whenever I visit a supermarket abroad, I sometimes think the meat section is one of the easiest places to see a country’s food culture.
What do people eat every day?
What kinds of dishes do they cook at home?
A supermarket like this can reveal more about everyday life than a restaurant aimed at tourists ever could.

From Japan to South America — and Back to Japan?

While looking through the shelves, I came across something curious.
Japanese curry powder…?
But judging from the packaging, it appeared to be a product intended for the South American market.

Was it made in Japan, exported and sold in South America, and then imported back to Japan for South Americans living here? If so, that would make it a rather interesting example of a “reverse import.”

And there were five chili-pepper symbols on the package.
It might taste quite different from the curry we are used to in Japan.

The drinks section had familiar products such as guaraná and Peru’s Inca Kola. That much was unsurprising. But they had even gone to the trouble of importing Peruvian Fanta.

A Japanese shopper might wonder, “Why import Fanta when we already have it in Japan?”

But perhaps when you have lived abroad for a long time, it is precisely these subtle differences that remind you of home.

The imported beer also seemed surprisingly inexpensive. Curiously, there were even a few Thai products on the shelves.

Rather than being strictly a South American supermarket, perhaps the store has gradually expanded its selection in response to the needs of the various foreign communities living in the area.

Trying South American Bread and Snacks

There was a simple type of bread that apparently is common in South America. It looked somewhat like a small French baguette and cost ¥115 each.

Our tour of Aikawa had only just begun, so this was not the time to stock up on groceries. Instead, we decided to try something from the food counter.
We ordered a churrasquito, a substantial sandwich filled with beef, and a pastel, a popular Brazilian snack made by wrapping meat, cheese, or other fillings in thin pastry and deep-frying it.

The three of us shared them.

The churrasquito was generously filled with beef and other ingredients and toasted after we placed the order. The pastel was also packed with cheese and meat. By Japanese standards, either one would probably be enough on its own for a substantial snack.

Apparently, the shop has been here for around ten years. We were also told that the number of Peruvians and Brazilians in this area began increasing around the mid-1990s.

At first, the prices seemed slightly high for fast food. But these were not pre-made snacks simply reheated after ordering. Each was prepared individually, so we waited about ten minutes.

The reward was that they arrived freshly made — and they were good.

More Than a Supermarket: A South American Community

Next to the shop was a room with a sign for a Catholic church.It was closed when we visited, and from the outside alone I probably would never have realized it was a church. Still, I found it interesting that a religious facility was located right beside a grocery store.

For people living far from their home countries, familiar food is not the only thing they need. There is also language, religion, connections with other people, communication with family back home, and ways to send money overseas.

Inside Sabor Latino there was also a Western Union international money-transfer counter.

A supermarket. A food counter. A church. International money transfers.

At first glance, they may seem like completely separate things. But viewed from the perspective of people building a life in another country, they are all connected.

I had initially come to Sabor Latino simply thinking of it as an interesting shop selling unusual foreign foods. After spending some time there, however, I began to see it as something more: one of the places supporting the everyday lives of people from South America who now call Aikawa home.

Unlike Oizumi in Gunma Prefecture or Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture, Aikawa is not nationally famous as a “Brazilian town.”
And that is precisely what makes it interesting.
This is an ordinary town in Kanagawa, not a tourist destination, yet simply by exploring its streets you can encounter the everyday life of cultures from far beyond Japan.
And Sabor Latino was only the first stop on our “Ethnic Aikawa” tour.
We got back in the car to see what else we might find around town.