Living Well on a Small Income in Japan 🇯🇵 | Payday, Small Joys & Homemade Soba Salad

Hi! I'm Tuma, a Japanese woman living in Tohoku, Japan. Enjoying the solo life. 🇯🇵 It was payday. Before long, the tax bills arrived. In the morning I made a batch of freezer onigiri — enough to last me the week. Then: a second-hand shop, a supermarket, the dagashi corner of Don Quijote. That same coins-in-hand feeling from childhood, just with a few more pieces this time. A sparkling soda waited in the fridge. A quiet afternoon at my little forest window. This income, this life — I'm still figuring it out. But I like where I am. 🌱 I hope you enjoy a small, honest payday in Tohoku with me. ───────────────────── ▶ RECIPE ───────────────────── 🍙 Freezer Onigiri (*mochi barley & edamame*) Ingredients (makes ~10) ・White rice + mochi barley — cooked together ・Frozen edamame (shelled) — a handful ・Umeboshi furikake — to taste ・Salted kombu — to taste Instructions ① Cook white rice mixed with mochi barley ② Mix in frozen edamame, umeboshi furikake, and salted kombu ③ Shape into balls and freeze ④ Microwave straight from frozen whenever you want one 🍙 ───────────────────── 🥗 Avocado Soba Salad Ingredients (1 serving) ・Dry soba noodles — 1 bundle ・Avocado — 1/2 ・Baby leaf salad — as needed ・Ponzu — 2 tbsp ・Olive oil — 1 tbsp Instructions ① Cut avocado into cubes. Rinse baby leaf salad. ② Boil soba, then rinse well in cold water. ③ Mix ponzu and olive oil at a 2:1 ratio. ④ Toss soba, avocado, and salad with the dressing. ───────────────────── ✨ Sparkling Soda Ingredients ・Plant-based gelatin (agar type) — as directed on package ・Salty lychee juice — amount as directed on gelatin package ・Konjac jelly — a few pieces ・Mitsuya Cider — to taste (for serving) Instructions ① Dissolve plant-based gelatin in water, then heat further to fully dissolve. ② Cut konjac jelly into small pieces. ③ Mix dissolved gelatin with lychee juice. ④ Pour into molds, add konjac jelly pieces, and refrigerate until set. ⑤ Place the set jelly in a cup, pour Mitsuya Cider over it, and serve. ───────────────────── 🎬 Quiet daily life of a solo woman living in rural Tohoku, Japan. ───────────────────── #livingalone #japanvlog #Tohoku #ruralJapan #dailylifeinjapan #payday #onigiri #sobarecipe #japanfood #dagashi #freelancelife #japanbudget #mottainai #japandailylife #sololife Your support helps me keep sharing good food and simple moments ☕️ Thank you always 🤍 🍙 https://buymeacoffee.com/Tumadaily