Category: Japan

While I was in Japan, there were two foods that I made it a mission to eat; Kobe beef and “fugu” (pufferfish). I don’t even remember if I’ve ever had wagyu beef before I came to Japan but I had some melt-in-your-mouth A5 Hida beef in Takayama, which was very memorable. I used to be…

When people hear the word “Japan”, the first food most think of is “sushi”. Back in 2016, I enjoyed a wonderful experience eating sushi with my family in one of those sushi joints next to Tsukiji Market. The sushi was fresh and delicious and was worth the experience of lining up on a rainy morning…

Ramen. The food of the people. Shio, shoyu, miso, tonkotsu, tsukemen; all terms most who love ramen are familiar with. I visited many ramen joints during my trip to Japan and each had its own signature broths. All were delicious, of course. Fukuoka is a particularly interesting city when it comes to ramen so if you are…

While I was in Osaka, I learned about a philosophy that I believe all foodies out there can relate to. It is called “Kuidaore” and it means “to eat oneself into total ruin”. Now, maybe not all of us eat until we are financially ruined but I think it’s fair to say there are those…

Out of all the towns and cities I visited in Japan, Takayama is one of my favorites. It is small enough to walk around easily but it has plenty of interesting things to see and eat. One can easily spend 2-3 days there. It gets a little touristy during the day as Japanese tourists come…

One of the highlights of my visit to Japan was visiting HFV. Walking around its expansive grounds gave me a sense of what an old Japanese village was like in this part of Japan. What amazes me was how all the buildings and homes were disassembled in several actual villages in Gifu prefecture, relocated and…

I have attended many sporting events and been among many die-hard fans cheering their teams on, creating for some amazing atmosphere. Japanese fans take it to another level. The choreographed spinning umbrellas in the video below is certainly unique to the Yokohama F Marinos home support!

Where and when: Ryoguku Kokugikan sumo hall, Tokyo, circa May 2018 What got me wondering if a tournament was in town was when one morning, I was walking around and I saw a sumo wrestler (rikishi) in a kimono, cycling in a hurry somewhere. (I wish I had been quick enough to snap a picture…

I didn’t know what route I was going to take when I visited Japan. All I knew was my journey in Japan would begin on May 13, 2018 in Tokyo. I had planned to catch several sporting events in the country (baseball and soccer especially but I was lucky enough to be in Tokyo when…