I was struck by how aesthteically elegant an everyday errand such as buying dessert or fruit could be in Japan.  Here are some photos to show what I mean - though there were many more instances I didn't have my camera with me to capture.

The first few photos are of desserts arranged in the basement of a department store connected to Shinjuku station in Tokyo.  The entire basement floor is dedicated to food in all its glorious varieties - but in particular desserts.  Each dessert stand is themed to a particular type of dessert, from French gateaux to traditional Japanese sweets.  I took photos of the most eyecatching - generally custard sweets suspended in a gelatinous mix.  The trays are arranged by type and pretty well-coordinated to make the desserts as good to look at as they taste.

The final photo is of a fruit stall also in Shinjuku station in Tokyo.  It is a fruit arrangement in a tiny convenience kiosk, but even so has a spare elegance to it.  In particular, the care given to wrapping each individual piece of fruit as a valuable item.