Shirokiya’s formidable Japan Village Walk — at 44,860 square feet, it’s three-quarters the size of a football field — is a chowhound’s heaven. With 56 food venues, it can satisfy virtually any craving. If it’s noodles you’re yearning for, decide among udon, soba, ramen, okonomiyaki and yakisoba. If you’re after quality seafood, peruse the various Seafood Plaza stations run by the uber-fine-dining restaurant Vintage Cave. There you’ll find raw, broiled, simmered, fried and curried offerings. Burgers, pizza, nachos, hot dogs, wagyu beef and Hawaiian food will also be among Village Walk options when doors open Saturday at 10 a.m.

But let’s say you’re less about experiencing a meal and more about efficiency — eating on the run. You’ve come to the right place, as the Japanese have been addressing busy, hungry folks for thousands of years.

Consider Musubi Cafe Iyasume, which serves up rice balls filled with a variety of items. The cafe is continuing a Japanese tradition tracing back some 2,000 years. During the Heian period, from the eighth to 12th centuries, for instance, musubi was fed to Japan’s lower-class court servants and soldiers who could literally grab a bite while going about their many duties.

The cafe, with three Waikiki locations, a shop on Keeaumoku Street and now the Village Walk kiosk, offers both traditional musubi and versions clearly influenced by local palates. While the menu lists such classic musubi as ume (pickled plum), konbu (seaweed), salmon and ikura (salmon roe), it also features 15 kinds of Spam musubi, including various combos of egg, avocado, bacon, ume and kim chee.

“Spam musubi is very well known internationally,” said owner and president Toshiyuki Otake, whose customers include visitors from the mainland, South Korea, China and Japan who come to his shops specifically for the Spam. He says that at the Keeau­moku shop Spam musubi accounts for 75 percent of the musubi sold.

But before you even get to the Spam aspect of a musubi, consider other factors of a top-quality product.

“Rice is very important,” said Otake. “Since 2000 I’ve used Tamaki Gold. It maintains the same taste even after it cools.”

Rice must be cooked just right, not too soft or hard. “Cooked rice must be hard enough so that it spreads in the mouth when eaten,” he said. It must also stand up well to being formed into a musubi. Pack the rice tightly so that it doesn’t crumble, but not with so much force that it smashes the grains.

Unlike sushi rice, which is seasoned with sweetened vinegar, musubi rice is just lightly salted.

Otake places his fillings at the center of the musubi and tops the peak of each triangular morsel with a bit of the filling, just to make it identifiable. The idea, he says, is to provide a bit of filling in every bite, but not so much that it overpowers the palate.

Now, as to the Spam version: Otake’s marinates the Spam slices — in sugar, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar — prior to frying them. He uses the 25 percent-lower-sodium version, saying it offers the best taste for his recipe.

“The (fried) Spam is crispy” and, when placed on very hot, fresh rice, makes for an especially delicious mobile meal, he said. Keep extra slices in the marinade for up to three or four days, and when hunger pangs hit, heat a slice in the microwave before placing it on hot rice. This allows for a fresh musubi well after the can has been opened.

SHIFT YOUR MIND from ancient Japan to the other side of the globe when considering another Village Walk kiosk that nonetheless reflects the Japanese sensibility for delivering food-on-the-go.

Marion Crepes, a well-known Japanese chain that originated in 1976 in Harajuku, offers both savory and dessert versions of the classically French food. It operates 80 shops in Japan, has a franchise in California and is opening its first international corporate shop at Village Walk.

President Iwaki Kishi calls Marion Crepes a pioneer of crepes in Japan and the innovator of the Japanese- style version, which is rolled into a cone for mobile consumption.

“In the Japanese culture people eat while walking around. The concept is a food for busy people,” said Kishi.

The cones are filled with everything from avocado and shrimp, to bacon and eggs, to fruit salads, to fruit and ice cream. Prices start at about $6.

While Marion’s original batter will be used at Village Walk — and along with it, homemade whipped cream and blueberry and apple fillings — items will be customized for Hawaii palates.

“Basically, Hawaii people like things sweeter. We’ll adjust the whipped cream to Hawaii taste,” said Kishi. “We also want to create new things by combining fresh fruit. We’re in the process of developing pineapple, mango and acai products.”

Kishi encourages local customers to also consider a savory option.

“We have not just dessert, but meal-type crepes as well. There’s a crepe with laab, the spicy Asian pork,” he suggested. “We want to introduce the Japanese crepe to Hawaii, but we’d also like to (grow) the business together with the locals. We want locals to have a $1 beer (from Village Walk’s beer garden) with one of those crepes.”

SHIROKIYA JAPAN VILLAGE WALK

The Village Walk, a $35 million project in the Ewa Wing of Ala Moana Center, houses 56 food venues and 900 seats. It opens at 10 a.m. Saturday, with hours that run 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Created in the image of Japan’s Monzen-towns — clusters of small shops in front of shrines and temples — Village Walk includes a Guardian Spirits Sanctuary with charity donation boxes, a prayer area and deity statues; the Zeppin Plaza, which sells trinkets and ceramic and glass dishware; and radio station KZOO-AM.

Dining choices include seafood and wagyu beef plazas that offer the food in various preparations, and a bakery, all run by the Vintage Cave.

The 32-kiosk yataimura, or food court, includes a beer station with $1 brews at five service counters, and these venues, grouped in general categories:

Noodles

• Gasho Ken
• Usagiya
• Mainichi Ifudodo
• God-San
• Onoya
• Udon Gamadashi

Bento

• Sakura Go Go
• Mei-Ko-En
• Tamura

General Japanese

• Tokyo Hotdogs
• Yoshida Meat
• Takoyaki Yama-chan
• Carp Dori
• Totte
• Magic Fish Sakura
• Tokugawa
• Marion Crepes

Sushi and musubi

• Toyo Sushi
• Hale Mai
• Sushi Omura
• Musubi Cafe Iyasume
• Jiraiya

International

• S&S Thai Kitchen
• Sea Dragon
• Steakhouse Pineapple
• Malia’s Cafe
• Dragon Garden
• Honolulu Burger Co.
• Aloha Oven
• Honolulu Juice Factory

Sweets

• Kulu Kulu
• Zunda Saryo
• Hikotaro