you know, I'd always assumed it was a native japanese fable, considering that I've seen it so extensively in jp media and yeah, not at all in western stuff.
The sheer diabetes... good stuff!! Also if anyone is curious the first half's food places are based almost all on Takeshitadori in Harajuku. It is 100% possible to hit all the cafes in one day in just one straight line
oh neat, I didn't even consider that it might be based on something irl, but that makes sense