Sparkling water is rare in Japan, but Lawson started selling Gerolsteiner now (if you buy enough bottles you can win other German goodies, such as Lamy ball pens, Goldpfeil stationary, Meissen plates, or a Rimowa trolley case). This brings me back to my amazement about the fact that there are apparently millions of litres of Evian, Vittel, Perrier and the like shipped across a number of oceans from Europe. Seems perverse from an ecology standpoint, and how can this be cheap enough for the water to retail at not much more than domestic brands? Maybe bottled water is totally over-priced in general. It also reminds me that someone told me about a water-only bar in Ikebukuro that I wanted to check out.

Part Four: The Penny Counter keeps track of a life's savings.