Krispy Kreme Kraziness

Donuts in Japan are not good. The most popular chain, Mister Donut, sells a variety of sub par donuts all of which are wanting in texture and richness. Same goes for Japanese ice cream. They just don’t have that element of fattiness that makes these desserts in America such a guilty pleasure.

Kim and I were walking by Shinjuku station last weekend and there it was, a Krispy Kreme! We were in a hurry to catch another train but we vowed to come back at night and get us some real donuts later. Fast forward to about 7:00pm and this is what we’re greeted with.


Over an hour for freaking donuts!? By now I’m used to queuing up in Japan, but this is ridiculous. Three Krispy Kreme guards were directing the people in line and making sure nobody would jump the queue (accidentally of course.) As I’m walking up to the end of the procession of sixty donut-starved patrons the line guard stops me, motioning towards the department store up the stairs. Up the stairs is a line of people three times as long as below, about 200 feet long. These people were waiting just to get NEAR the queue in front of Krispy Kreme. A mere one hour wait seemed hopeful at best after seeing this second line.


We said, "The HELL with waiting outside in the cold!" and got some Mexican food instead. The Shinjuku Krispy Kreme is the ONLY one in Japan, that’s why it’s so damn busy. Why aren’t there more stores if the Japanese are so crazy over Krispy Kreme donuts? I sort of understand the argument of exclusivity but it’s a freaking donut shop not a Tiffany’s or Louis Vuitton, which there are dozens of just in Ginza.

Also, Happy White Day. In Japan on Valentines Day the men get cheap chocolate so on White Day a month later they have to reciprocate. The Japanese have managed to stretch Valentine’s Day gift giving into two separate holidays. Hurray for capitalism, but I still can’t get a decent donut.