Going to Japan: any advice?

I'm going to Tokyo and possibly Kyoto at the end of September. Do any of my fellow foodies have recommendations for things to eat or do while I'm there?

I'll be there for about 10 days and I eat everything but green bell peppers.

Thanks!

JohnnyConatus

JohnnyConatus wrote:
I'll be there for about 10 days and I eat everything but green bell peppers.

Then avoid anything called "pima." Will reply back once I've compiled a list and inquired of the wife.

Aside from whatever fabulous recommendations others come up with, one of the things I found to be tremendous fun was Japanese fast food. You pick your item from photos or plastic examples, go to a machine and put in your money, punch the number of the dish you want, a ticket is spit out, and then you find a table. Within seconds, a waiter has brought you hot tea and miso soup, and has taken your ticket. A few minutes later, your plate of noodles or tempura or Japanese curry appears. All has been paid for in advance, so you can leave as soon as you're through.

Also, just about any little noodle shop is fun. Street food is safe.

Curry is tied with sushi as favorite food in Japan, so try to find some Japanese curry.

By all means, visit the food floors of any of the major downtown department stores -- usually completely over the top. Here's an article on the culture of Japanese department store food floors:
http://www.japanwelcomesyou.com/cssweb/ ... m?sid=1251

Takashimaya is a good choice in both Kyoto and Tokyo. But all the big department stores have amazing food floors -- trying to out-Harrod Harrod's.

Read Tsukiji.

You'll know where to go once you do.

Oh -- definitely, Tsukiji. How could I forget?!

But be careful in the Tsukiji Fish Market -- they say that there is an average of one emergency a day, as things move at tremendously high speed.

And in Kyoto, the Nishiki Market -- a blocks long farmers'/fishermen's market that is a delight.

Good god, yes, if there's anything you do, don't miss Tsukiji. Especially since the market will be relocating in a few years. Unless you go to Japan with any frequency, this'll be your last chance. And no matter how bleary you are from the jetlag, be sure to go at the crack of dawn when the place is hopping. Not that it isn't amazing later in the morning, but half of the wow factor is the energy.

Department stores are good for more than just the food hall in the basements. There are restaurants on the top level.

The top of the Kyoto train station has a food court and a number of restaurants. The best are the tonkatsu place and the tempura place. The tonkatsu restaurant is part of a chain and their signature is that they give you sesame seeds and a ceramic mortar and pestle that you use to make your own sauce of ground seeds and tonkatsu sauce. The pictures out front show this process.

The tempura place is easy when you don't speak the language if you sit at the bar. You point at the food you want and the chef cooks it immediately then hands it over.

Also in the train station in Kyoto is an ice cream parlour that sells breakfasst. It's in the underground mall. I found it was difficult to find good breakfast places and this was one. It's on the corner and looks like a Swiss cafe.

Department stores are also good for public rest rooms.

JohnnyConatus wrote:I'm going to Tokyo and possibly Kyoto

try to get to Kyoto !!!

There are some wonderful things to experience, a clip from a trip report I wrote:

In Kyoto saw many temples including Kinkakuji (Golden Temple) the upper "floors" of the temple are covered in gold leaf, truly striking. The original temple was burned down by a disgruntled monk (obviously did not get the inner peace thing ) in 1959.
Kiyomizu Temple sits on the side of Mt. Otowa and has beautiful views. The walk up to this temple is quite a hike. Because it was so hot, we caught a cab as far as we could up the mountain. At the Jishu shrine on the Kiyomizu grounds are two "Love" stones which are about 25 feet apart from one another. Story goes if you can walk from one stone to the other w/your eyes closed, your true love desires will be granted.

Our two highlights (as if the other attractions were mediocre!) in Kyoto were Sanjusangendo Hall and cormorant fishing on the Oi river. Sanjusangendo Hall contains 1000 life size, for Japan at least statues of the thousand handed Kanon which are displayed in a 400' wooden long hall. 500 are on each side of a 19' large Kanon. While we were there, some Buddhist monks were chanting and incense filled the air. By the way, each statue does not have actually 1,000 hands, they only have 40 but each hand can save 25 worlds!

At dusk/night we also viewed cormorant fishing from our personally guided wooden boat (decked out w/candle lit lanterns), on the Oi river. To get to the Oi river from Kyoto station, either take the JR Sagano Line (you can use your railpass) and get off at the Saga Arishiyama station or take the Keifuku Railway to Arashiyama Station. From both walk to the river (it's pretty evident which way) and the bridge that crosses it, the Togetsu Bridge. On either side of the river will be boats lined up that will take you to see the fishing. A tip, most people get onboard the first boats they see (the side of the river closest to the stations), we walked across the river and had a boat all to ourselves which was VERY nice! When darkness falls the fishing boats light a fire in an iron basket which is hung at the front of the boat over the water. The light attracts the fish. The cormorants are on lines that the man tending them reels in when the birds come up w/ a fish. Two other men paddle the boat. It wouldn't be Japan if they did not try to sell you something, so after the show a boat comes by selling everything from trinkets and fireworks to noodles/soup. After the sales ship leaves the boats are left to drift into a log wall at the top of a 5' waterfall and by the moonlight you watch the black water flow under your boat and over the waterfall. Finally it was time to get back to shore and our boatman poled the boat back to shore. We proceeded to take the train back to Kyoto station. Kyoto station at night is a beautiful sight. The ceiling is 50' above you and little lights twinkle on the ceiling making it look like stars. We then caught the Shinkansen (bullet train) back to Osaka for the night.

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My experience in Tokyo is from ten years ago when I was a student with limited cash reserves, so you won't find any high end cuisine here, but that being the case, here are my thoughts.

I would visit some of the Tokyo neighborhoods - the area around the Asakusa temple is a good one. Or around Ueno. Go to a sushi restaurant during the day, sit at the bar, and just point things out. Or ask for a chirashi sushi bowl and let the sushi chef do his magic.

Conveyor belt sushi is also fun and relatively cheap without the pressure of having to explain what you want.

Yakitori-ya are nice as well. The standard is several small skewers of grilled chicken, but they also serve dozens of other foods - from odd little mystery meat balls, to chicken skin or cartilage, to all assorment of vegetables. A fun casual meal you can find all over the place.

Almost every restaurant has plastic food in the window showing what they serve. Feel free to drag the waiter to the window and point out what you want. There is one street that only sells kitchen supplies, including the plastic food if you want some unique souveniers. The street is referred to as Kappabashi. (The street really has another name). Somewhere around Ueno station if memory serves me.

Another cheap favorite are the Okonomiyaki-ya. Okonomiyaki is a kind of omelet mixed with vegetables and meat that somehow does not sound so appetizing by my description but is really quite wonderful. There are specialty restaurants that only serve Okonomiyaki - hundreds of them. ("ya" means store in Japanese, so sushi-ya is a sushi restaurant, yakitori-ya is a yakitori restaurant. Etc.)

And of course there are hundreds of options in Roppongi - the big night life area - or around the massive shinjuku or shibuya stations. I even had one memorable all you can drink beer, all you can eat mutton meal on the roof garden of a department store near Tokyo station. I never know I could eat so much mutton. There is just no end to what you can ge tin Tokyo.

I wish I were going with you. There are 80,000 restaurants in greater Tokyo and I'd like to try them all.

Also, the publisher Kodansha has an excellent bilingual Tokyo atlas with extensive detailed maps, english translations, and the best Tokyo subway/train maps you will find anywhere. Japanese train stations do not always have roman alphabet translations of the station, so unless you know the kana, it can be easy to get lost. The atlas can solve all those problems. Here is the Amazon link.

http://www.amazon.ca/Tokyo-City-Atlas-B ... 4770028091

Living in Tokyo for 18 months, this was the most valuable thing I purchased.

For a fun cheap day outside, go to Yoygi park on a Sunday (near Harajaku station) and see all the crazy Japanese kids out in their weekend costumes.

For what its worth, horse sushi (thinly sliced raw horse meat), a traditional Kyoto specialty, isn't all its made out to be. Go to Kyoto for the temples, not the raw horse meat.

And stay away from Natto. That stuff is nasty.