The Pandemic Didn’t Change My Routine — Because That Was Already My Routine

If you’ve read about starting my Master’s during the pandemic, you know the academic side. This article is the other side: what my daily life actually looked like then — and why the answer is far more boring than people expect.

A Pandemic-Proof Routine

When the state of emergency was declared in spring 2020, my life barely changed. The reason is simple: my life was already like that.

Wake up → head to NIMS for research → go home. Lunch at the NIMS cafeteria, dinner bought as a bento from a supermarket on the way back. That was it. A researcher at a research institute turns out to have one of the most “pandemic-proof” routines around — the work still existed, the place stayed the same, the rhythm kept running.

Groceries didn’t change much either. I rarely bought raw ingredients; mostly I just bought bento. So supermarket trips continued as normal, even during the emergency.

One small friction early on: I wasn’t comfortable wearing a mask every day. It took time before it felt normal.

Bento Economics: the Science of Discount Stickers

There was one part of that routine that actually had a strategy behind it: choosing the supermarket based on what time I left.

Every supermarket starts attaching discount stickers to their bento at a different hour. So depending on when I left NIMS, my destination changed. Leave later, eat cheaper.

I had two options at the time: Kasumi (Takezono) and Seiyu (Dayz Town) — Seiyu was my regular until it eventually closed. Then a rather disruptive new competitor appeared: Lopia in Tonarie (near Tsukuba Center), selling things that were good, delicious, and cheap all at once.

The discounts themselves came in tiers: starting at ¥50 off, then 20%, up to 50%. On a student budget, that difference is very real.

What Was Actually Lost

So what did the pandemic change? Not my days — but the days I had imagined.

Before coming to Japan, I pictured cycling to campus, sitting in classrooms with other students, experiencing real university life. What happened instead: everything went online. That campus life I’d imagined never actually materialized in my first year.

The irony is that because my life was already centered on the lab, the loss never felt dramatic. It just… never happened.

If You’re Heading Into Research Study in Japan

The usual pandemic story — life turned upside down, everything stopping — isn’t mine. What I’d rather leave you with are two small things:

• Research student life is intensely routine-driven. That’s its strength (it keeps running when the world stops) and its weakness (you can lose the rest of your life without noticing).
• The discount sticker trick is real. If you’re a student on a tight budget in Japan, learn the timing of the supermarkets around you. Your food budget will thank you.