I faxed the Japanese review gods earlier today. I figured there wouldn’t be a reply until tomorrow but one came earlier than expected and they confirmed that if Bunpro is ever down it is “Omen From The Gods” that you should take a a break. That is verbatim from their faxed reply… 
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good to know, had assumed they were using pagers whilst listening to their walkmans and playing nintendo gameboy tetris.
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I’m currently sat in my regular izakaya, 塚田農場. My best friend used to work here when he was a student. I’ve mentioned him before, but he’s so passionate about food that he has his own Instagram account dedicated to food. Thanks to everyone who’s already followed him (he noticed you and was really happy) @nosustagrume - if you are really interested in Japanese food culture and cooking, then please follow him. For the record, he’s the guy in my profile picture. Also I have 3 people to whom I refer as ‘best friends’, so he’s not the one who got married on Sunday.
Anyway, I digress! 塚田農場 is famous for food from Miyazaki prefecture in Kyushu. Since we’ll be doing a piece on Miyazaki down the line, I won’t write about the food, I’ll write about the point card system. On your first visit, you’ll receive a 名刺 (business card) and get a little gift for your first visit. You can also do this via the company app. As you come more and more, you’ll level up. You start off as a 主任, then gradually progress to 課長, 部長, 専務, 社長, 会長 and finally the coveted 相談役 on your 50th visit.
I don’t know if I should be proud, embarrassed or both, but today is my 202nd visit, so today I become 課長 for the 5th time! 
Every time you level up, you get a present, but I won’t tell you what they are! You’ll have to find out for yourself! But of course, it’s food. I promise they’re not paying me for this post!
They won’t necessarily always ask you about the 名刺, so you might have to ask them for one.
They can be found all over the country, but there are unfortunately big chunks of Japan where they’ve yet to open. There are none in Shikoku, Okinawa or northern Honshu yet. Please confirm whether you have one near you!
Just one word about food, a sneak peek at the Miyazaki writeup… 名物は炭火焼きだよ！
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18926 (community total) + 23 (my reviews) = 18949
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18949 + 162 = 19111
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Bah! I hate Shungiku with a passion XD
I went to Aomori twice… and both time it felt like they pushed their apple products in my face wherever I went.
Sad to say my husband ate all my Aomori apple KitKat, but I vividly remember a cookie called “Ringo no kimochi” - a butter cookie filled with apple buttercream. Delicious!
Also… did you know that a part of Aomori has a rather special kind of Mochi called じゅね餅 (Ju-ne Mochi)? It´s made from dry shredded potato stuff and usually served with a perilla seed and Miso sauce.
The Potato stuff is called かんなかけいもの粉 and is a very traditional product stemmimg from the hardships to grow other veggies or fruit in the Shimokita region (during Meiji period if I remember correctly). The farmers planted potatos and people got really creative on how to use them effectly and make a product that is nourishing as well as not spoiling that quickly. Thus Kannakakeimo was born and used to make flour - from which the Mochi are made. There is very few mashines and people who know how to make it left though, so if you can, go to one of their workshops or just go there to try the mochi 
And OT but really not OT - do you know this incredibly cute musicvideo by Tokyo Haiji? They promote a city called Gonohe (in Aomori) and introduce the food in the cutest way I´ve ever seen XD (hope it´s ok to post a link, if not I will delete it 
)
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19111 + 92 = 19203
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19203 (community total) + 26 (my reviews) = 19229
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Amazing! Thank you so much for your input! If there is anyone else who has specialist knowledge such as this, of a prefecture that hasn’t come up yet, please let me know!
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19229 (community total) + 15 (my reviews) = 19244
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19244 (community total) + 39 (my reviews) = 19283
11 Likes
19283 (community total) + 21 (my reviews) = 19304
14 Likes
19304 (community total) + 45 (my reviews) = 19349
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19249 (community total) + 3 (my reviews, yesterday) + 15 (my reviews, today) = 19277
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Opps… there was a typo on that last one ! 
albcasahu: 19304 (community total) + 45 (my reviews) = 19349
Ochamame: 19349 (community total) + 3 + 15 (my reviews) = 19367
And now mine:
yatyisam: 19367 (community total) + 30 (my reviews) = 19397
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19397 (community total) + 21 (my reviews) = 19418
12 Likes
19418 (community total) + 25 (my reviews) = 19443
12 Likes
19443 (community total) + 41 (my reviews) = 19484
11 Likes
19484 (community total) + 154 (my reviews) = 19638
12 Likes
19638 (community total) + 50 (my reviews) = 19688
12 Likes