Japanese gastronomy — listed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage under the name of washoku — is a philosophy articulated around three founding principles: respect for the product (shun: using each ingredient at the peak of its seasonal perfection), precision of gesture (a sushiya spends years learning to cook rice before touching a fish) and harmony of presentation (every dish is conceived as a visual composition). This rigour explains why Tokyo holds more Michelin stars than any other city on earth — over 200 starred restaurants, more than Paris and New York combined.
The Japanese food landscape is vertiginously rich. Sushi and sashimi in the Edomae style (Tokyo-born, built on fish from the bay) trace the tuna (maguro, chū-toro, ō-toro), salmon, prawn, sea urchin (uni) and ark shell (akagai) with an artistic precision. Ramen — pork-bone broth (tonkotsu in Hakata), soy-based (shoyu in Tokyo), miso-spiked (Sapporo) or clear salt broth (shio in Hakodate) — is the other national dish, served steaming in tiny counter restaurants where the rule is to eat in focused silence. The izakaya (Japanese pub-dining) is the default evening table: yakitori (grilled chicken skewers, ¥150–300 each), edamame, karaage (fried chicken), tamagoyaki (rolled sweet omelette), washed down with Sapporo beer or a local sake. Kaiseki cuisine — the Japanese equivalent of French haute gastronomie — unfolds in 8 to 12 courses tracing seasonal produce through a succession of textures, temperatures and flavours codified since the sixteenth century; a kaiseki meal in a Kyoto ryokan costs between ¥10,000 and ¥30,000 (£60–180) and remains one of the most refined gastronomic experiences on earth.
Konbini culture (convenience stores) deserves its own paragraph. At 7-Eleven, FamilyMart or Lawson, fresh onigiri (rice triangles, ¥130–180), bento boxes, cold soba and nikuman (steamed pork buns) offer a quality and freshness that surpass most Western fast food. Japanese sweets — wagashi such as mochi, daifuku, dorayaki and yokan — and the pervasive matcha tea culture round off a culinary panorama where you can eat brilliantly for ¥500 or ¥50,000, and where the gap in intention between the two is surprisingly narrow.
Read also
- Tokyo, the city of a thousand faces — Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akihabara, Yanaka — Japan's capital holds more Michelin stars than any city on earth.
- Kyoto, Japan's ancient soul — Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama, Gion and cherry blossoms — the old imperial capital in all its splendour.
- Osaka, street food capital of Japan — Dotonbori, takoyaki, okonomiyaki and izakaya — Japan's most convivial and deliciously indulgent city.
- Hokkaido, wild nature and legendary ski — Powder snow at Niseko, lavender fields in Furano, exceptional seafood in Sapporo.
- The Kansai: Kyoto, Osaka, Nara — Japan's cultural and gastronomic triangle, from ancient temples to covered market streets.