Yeah, I really assumed i'd be able to get something, as, you know, it's Japan. They have a whole tea culture! So I was really surprised when the options were so limited. It's not impossible, it's just not that convenient or as cheap as in the UK to get good black tea. you might find it easier, actually, to get a few bags of loose-leaf tea and then just get a tea-ball or an immersion strainer when you're out there. Save yourself some packing space!

Non-lager beers are gaining popularity, and I remember a place called The Beer Company in Umeda next to Dee Dee House that had a real variety of beers, but you are right the vast majority of on-tap beers are lagers.

You can find a variety of cheeses at the larger food shopping areas, usually on the bottom floor of large shopping malls like Hanshin and Hankyu, again in Umeda. You can also find things like bread, bagels, salami, etc that may not be found in local supermarkets, so it can be worth the trip.

Haha oh wow, I agree with everything that's been said so far. Speaking of differences though, don't forget in Japan there's no large groups of Chavs outside every offie fighting over the last drags of a cig someone stole off their Mum while asking every passer by to buy them a 4 pack of Special Brew or White Lightning.

Yeah, it's just a bit different from the UK, is all. Like the tiny local bar I serve in sometimes has 8 beers on tap and 2 ciders, and only 2 are larger. This isn't even counting what's on sale in bottle, either.
My local weekly market (not even the supermarket) alone has over 20 types of cheese, all pretty reasonably priced, and that's not really unusual. The sheer variety and availability here is staggering so it's a bit of a shock to discover a 4oz block of bog-standard blue cheese on sale for 600yen or more.

Thanks for all the tips guys.

Sounds like lager is readily available, that's a plus - I'm not much of an ale drinker anyway!

About the larger supermarkets/shopping malls which are better stocked, how common are they? Will I typically have to travel far to get to them, say from Osaka city centre?

Cheers

In Osaka? They're common enough for you not to need to worry. There were two within a 20min walk in the small suburb I lived in. There's also lots of smaller specialist shops like butchers, bakers, candlestick makers dotted about, and convenience stores are dime-a-dozen so you can always nip out for something at short notice. The really huge department-style ones are all mostly IN the city already.

Where will you be located?

From the map the company gave me, it's a place called Kounoike Shinden - they have an apartment block there. Apparently it's 20 mins commute by train to Osaka Business Park.

That's Higashi Osaka I think, and a bigger area than I was, so you should have all the facilities I had, and then some more. Ok, I just googled, there is at least one supermarket near Kounoike Shinden Station. Plus a handful of others and conbini dotted around the local area.

Tesco have started invading Japan, so you can get some home style tea at a fair price. They also have custard creams and borbons and real mayonase. Also spotted some brown sauce www.tesco-japan.com

Cider is a soft drink here but you can get 1 liter cartons of apple juice, add some yeast and have some english cider in about 10 days.

The idea Japanese have of cheese is the same as American, so lame as a55! Sure you can get plastic cheese, soft white stuff and Italian/French offerings. But chedder is expensive and comes in amounts that will only make a sad version of a plowman's.

Baked beans are like 300 yen a tin but I recently found some pale imitations for 100 yen. A good squirt of katsup gets them in order quickly.

Bring gravy granules, or learn how to make it from scratch. The beef here is awesome but sometimes I want some gravy on it :)

Use Kobe-Busan 食品業として日本最大の製販一体企業 神戸物産 for frozen veg, pizza bases and tortilla breads. Also they have a good selection of imported foods.

Lastly (for now) you can always hit Kaldi KALDI COFFEE FARM
If you really need a jar of patak's curry paste or some other obscure food item.

And I just remembered. Hit a local indo curry house (normally english speaking) and ask where they buy their lamb. The will usually point you to a local supplier who can not only hit you with lamb (2 kilo for 1,500 yen) but naan bread, pappadoms and other currie goodness.