Pack up your chopsticks! The culinary map of Japan is a carnival of flavour-forward specialties spanning every prefecture with unique ingredients, dishes, and experiences that await at every turn.
When visiting Tokyo or Osaka, classes in making sushi, soba, gyoza and ramen are plentiful, but to really sink your teeth into Japanese foodie culture, here are some extraordinary experiences – featuring both regionality and seasonality – that are worth venturing out beyond the big cities.
In Osaka you can take your fish-dish one step further at Zauo Namba Honten fishing restaurant where, once seated at your table, you cast a line to catch your own fish. Red Snapper and flounder swim in the water below. If you catch it, reel it in, present it to the staff, and order how you would like it prepared: sashimi, sushi, grilled, broiled or tempura-fried.
Kagawa is Japan's capital of udon noodles, and is renowned for its Sanuki Udon, flat-sided noodles. There are four ingredients: wheat for the noodles, salt, soy sauce and dried sardines for the broth. Upon arrival at the airport, let an Udon Taxi, driven by an udon specialist, whisk you directly to select udon restaurants. Along with his driver's license, your guide has passed a handmade-udon test.
Take full advantage of this new resource at https://www.japan.travel/en/ca/cuisine/. A survey and giveaway contest on regional dishes is slated for late October: keep your eyes on https://www.japan.travel/en/ca/ for more details and to enter!