Exploring Taiwan’s Night Markets with Mariko Okubo

YouTuber Mariko Okubo, who hails from Japan, has been excited about Taiwan’s night markets since her first visit to one. These days she and her Taiwanese husband, Jerry, enjoy filming videos in night markets, which they share on her YouTube channel “Mariko Okubo’s Life in Taiwan” (@marilog0907). “The hustle and bustle here [in a night market] have become part of my daily life, and this is also my kitchen. I feel right at home.”

A few months ago, Japanese actor Yutaka Matsushige came to Taiwan to promote his film The Solitary Gourmet. Okubo, who has lived in Taiwan for many years, accompanied him on a visit to Fengjia Night Market in Taichung, which boasts a wide variety of local foods including egg pancakes, taro balls, and Taiwanese-style sausage with sticky rice. As they walked and ate, Matsushige occasionally snapped photos of the surroundings and declared on tasting Taiwanese-style sausage with sticky rice: “This aroma gives one the feeling ‘I’m in the real Taiwan now!’”

Mariko Okubo appreciates the warmth and kindness of people in night markets.

The commonplace of night markets

Okubo says that she gets a feeling of kindness and cordiality from the people of Taiwan. When she first arrived from Japan, she was a stranger who didn’t know the language, but in night markets people did all they could to communicate with her, and the warmth she encountered dispelled any sense of loneliness she might have felt.

She recalls that the first time she strolled through a night market she discovered many fresh and intriguing impressions that reminded her of Japan’s summer festivals. There was an atmosphere like a fireworks festival, with a sense of celebration. She felt able to set aside her ordinary hangups and caution and happily stroll and eat at the same time.

When asked what she invariably eats in night markets, Okubo responds with a laugh that if there is a line for deep-fried stinky tofu, she is sure to join it. Although many foreigners find stinky tofu off-putting, for Okubo it was love at first bite. “It just smells bad, but anyone willing to give it a try will find it is delicious.” She says matter-of-factly: “I’ve done my research. Foreigners who like stinky tofu are the ones who can live in Taiwan long-term.”

Okubo enjoys the hustle and bustle of night markets as well as the feeling of being at home that she gets in them; they have become a routine part of her daily life.

The Nanjichang Night Market, which is over 60 years old, offers a wide variety of affordable foods, including (from left to right) “wheel cakes” (filled pastries), stinky tofu, and pan-fried pork buns.

Visiting night markets to age 100

We arrange to meet Okubo at Taipei’s Nanjichang Night Market. She says that she first visited it three years ago, when she had already lived in Taiwan for over a decade. She assumed that she had already seen all that night markets in Taiwan had to offer, but discovered at Nanjichang that “whereas all the night markets in Taipei have lots of tourists, here everyone is a local. Also, there are many long-established shops and great food—you can’t go wrong.” The market’s old-style ambience made a deep impression on her.

Okubo is an enthusiastic bridge between Taiwan and Japan, and whenever she has Japanese friends visiting, she takes them to night markets to get a sense of the warmth and kindness of Taiwanese. She also uses special tricks when introducing friends to Taiwanese food. For example, she calls duck blood “Taiwanese black tofu” and describes kidney simply as “offal.” Once they try a food and like it, she reveals what it really is. Meanwhile, she is sure to introduce friends to the Taiwanese taro treats she has fallen in love with, such as taro balls and candied taro, because there is no taro in Japan. She states proudly that when Yutaka Matsushige tried taro at Fengjia Night Market, he liked it immediately.

Okubo and her husband have visited night markets all over Taiwan, even once-a-week local night markets. One example is the Yuanshan Night Market in Yilan County, where she first tried fresh-ground corn juice, the discovery of which was a revelation. Okubo opines that Taiwan’s night markets all differ from each other, so there is always a sense of novelty, but the kindness of the people is a constant. She and Jerry say with a smile that they want to carry on making videos for another 30 years, and they want to keep visiting night markets until they are 100 years old.

Shown here eating a taro sweet treat, their favorite food, Okubo and her husband say with a chuckle that Taiwan’s night markets are so wondrous that they want to keep visiting them until they are 100 years old.