說實話，我身邊不少人很喜歡日本，首先，日本給人的印象，往往是乾淨、有秩序且便利，很多我身邊的朋友，第一次到日本旅遊後，就喜歡上那種井然有序的生活方式，我這個世代的人，是看著日本動漫及日劇長大的，所以，我的心中也是想去朝聖那些知名場景，更別提及壽司、拉麵、和牛燒肉、懷石料理等日本美食，雖然，這些日本美食，不用到日本也能吃到，但是，到當地品嘗原汁原味的美食，是不少人旅行的目的。
LOPIA 超市是台北首家分店，主打日本新鮮直送的料理和食材，像是日本頂級牛肉、鮭魚壽司、栃木縣草莓等，我聽說首天開幕時，該超市就人潮洶湧，後來還要控管入場人數，提供較舒適的消費環境，在該超市營業一年之後，我才有機會過去逛逛，依照我對台灣人一窩蜂心態的了解，現在去 LOPIA 超市，應該已經不會那麼多人了吧。
然而，在超市的入口，我就感覺到不妙了，因為人好像有點多，不過還好不需要排隊入場，最外區是冷食區，有通心麵、沙拉、水果、甜點等，已經不少人在這裡挑選食物了，我看了一下麝香葡萄一盒要價一千多台幣，好像也是不便宜，熟食區有日式便當及日式小吃點心，像是烤雞串等，還有賣現烤現做的日式披薩，整枝炸蝦躺在披薩，只要三百九十九台幣，還可以接受，超市內最受歡迎的是壽司區，想要買壽司還要排隊，至於，琳瑯滿目的日式零食點心，也是必逛的區域。
聽說在日本，LOPIA 超市是平價超市，有「日本好市多」之稱，深受當地家庭主婦喜愛，高品質牛排、大份量熟食壽司、披薩以及鮮奶油甜點是必買品項，就我這次的實地觀察，雖然食物品質不錯，然而價錢談不上平價，不過，若和台灣的日本餐廳比的話，價錢則完勝日本餐廳，假如我真的想吃原汁原味的日本美食的話，我會選擇跑一趟 LOPIA 超市。
To be honest, a lot of people around me really love Japan. First of all, Japan gives people the impression of being clean, organized, and convenient. Many of my friends fell in love with that orderly lifestyle after visiting Japan for the first time. People from my generation basically grew up watching Japanese anime and dramas, so I’ve always wanted to visit those famous real-life locations from the shows. And of course, there’s the food — sushi, ramen, wagyu yakiniku, kaiseki cuisine, and so on. Even though you can eat Japanese food without going to Japan, many people travel there because they want to taste the authentic flavors locally.
LOPIA opened its first branch in Taipei and mainly sells fresh Japanese-imported food and ingredients, such as premium Japanese beef, salmon sushi, and strawberries from Tochigi Prefecture. I heard the grand opening was insanely crowded, and they even had to control the number of people entering to keep the shopping environment comfortable. I only got the chance to visit about a year after it opened. Based on my understanding of how Taiwanese people tend to rush to trendy places all at once, I thought it probably wouldn’t be that crowded anymore.
However, the moment I reached the entrance, I had a bad feeling because there were already so many people. Luckily, I didn’t have to line up to get in. Near the entrance was the cold food section, selling pasta, salads, fruits, desserts, and more, and plenty of people were already shopping there. I noticed one box of Shine Muscat grapes cost over NT$1,000, which definitely wasn’t cheap. The hot food section had Japanese-style lunch boxes and snacks like grilled chicken skewers, and they also sold freshly baked Japanese-style pizza. A whole fried shrimp pizza cost NT$399, which actually seemed acceptable to me. The most popular area was definitely the sushi section — people even had to line up just to buy sushi. And of course, the shelves full of Japanese snacks and sweets were another must-visit area.
I heard that in Japan, LOPIA is considered an affordable supermarket and is sometimes called the “Japanese Costco”, especially popular among housewives. Their high-quality steaks, large portions of sushi and deli foods, pizza, and cream desserts are apparently the must-buy items. From what I observed during my visit, the food quality was definitely good, but I wouldn’t exactly call the prices cheap. Still, compared to eating at Japanese restaurants in Taiwan, the prices were much better. If I really wanted authentic Japanese food, I’d honestly rather make a trip to LOPIA.
