I spent my teen years and a bit beyond in the south of Spain and got very fond of the tradition of "tapas" with whatever we were drinking... these were basically "small dishes" of something, not enough to be a course (or even an appetizer), but if you ate tapas all night it would basically add up to a meal... anything from olives, to cheeses, to small pieces of spicy sausage, to tiny squares of hard potato omelets and much more.
Interesting post, as always!
As always, thanks for your encouragement! I'm sorry it's taken me a while, but I finally got around to following you back. I didn't realize that I hadn't already.
Spending time in Spain sounds nice. I've never been there, but I hope to go someday. Japan's custom sounds to me like it is similar to Spanish tapas, but having never eaten real Spanish tapas, I can't say for sure.