Tetra Pak Heresy

It’s been a rainy few weeks lately, and there were terrific heavy rains this morning, just before and after dawn. Was awake for part of it, then drifted to the zone of dreams seamlessly, as happens in the blurry wee hours. An anxiety dream about discovering a roof leak blossomed in those moments, and then went away with a sense of relief, as they do, when you wake and realize that the thing didn’t happen. Or at least not in the tangible, non-dream world in which you’d have to spend money to fix the problem.

The other day Yuriko bought more Calpico brand non-carbonated milk-based soft drink at Mituswa, the Japanese grocery store. Lilly and Ann drink it especially during the summer. “Calpico” is what it’s called in English-speaking countries, and wisely so, because the actual name in Japanese is Calpis, pronounced cal-piss. Which is good for a few yuks when you first come to Japan – “they call it what?”

It comes in concentrate form. According to the directions on the label – for export to gaijin, remember – you need four parts water to one part Calpico. But Yuriko says that the drink is popular because each drinker gets to mix his own drink. Some like it stronger, some like it weaker. This is apparently a fertile source of talk for grade-school kids in Japan.

Until recently, export Calpico came in fine brown bottles cloaked in a distinctive blue-and-white wrapper. But Yuriko discovered that it now comes in Tetra Pak-like boxes. That, she said (I’m paraphrasing here), is heresy. Calpis comes in brown bottles. How could they do that? Both box and bottle contain 500 mL, so that isn’t the issue. I suspect that the Tetra Pak-ish boxes are a good deal cheaper to make, so that must be the reason. But I’m with her – that’s no excuse for dumping the brown bottles.