A little over two years ago, my family had the opportunity to visit Japan. The definates included Tokyo and a wonderful coastal town, Kochi. The rest was up to us. After weeks of exploring travel options, including trains schedules and accommodations, our trip looked as follows: 4 days in Tokyo, 2 days in Kochi, 3 days in Kyoto and back to Tokyo for 3 additional days. This required some serious planning and advanced details. If we had more time in each city, we could have allowed more to chance. However, with such brief stays in each place, we had to have certain things in place and be well versed in our travel cities to make the most of our time. So the research began.

Although I have written specific posts about Tokyo and Kyoto, I am writing four posts that will provide some important background information (and some cost savings). The four posts are: (1) transportation; (2) accommodations; (3) language; and, (4) food. There are just a few tips that will help you organize your travels, create a unique experience and enable you to take MANY 1wrongturns.

The following three links are to sites that I found really helpful in understanding and navigating Japan, as a whole.

Japan National Tourism Organization was my first stop. It provides a very thoughtful understanding of Japan culture, food/dining, transportation and accommodations. I highly recommend that you download the brochure Your Guide to Japan.

Japan-guide.com is rather commercial but has a tremendous amount of information.

Wikitravel: Japan – I like Wikitravel – get over it!

Useful tips:

• Dialing Code – the international dialling code for Japan is +81.
• Time – Japan is +9 hours GMT.
• Capital: Tokyo
• Religions: observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)

As I have mentioned in other posts, my family consists of 2 vegetarians (who eat eggs & dairy) and 1 vegaquarium (aka I eat seafood).  I was concerned that my daughter and husband would have a difficult time finding foods they could eat because of the prevalence of fish.  After reading that, in Japan, vegetarians are an oddity and that ham is considered a vegetable, we resigned ourselves to the fact that the two of them would be eating rice and edamame.  I had even specifically researched vegetarian restaurants.  My concerns were completely unfounded and we never needed to search out a vegetarian restaurant.  Between the street food, tofu dishes, rice balls, mochi and abundance of seasonal vegetables (which did NOT include edamame), Japan served up a veritable feast.

I would like to add here that my husband and daughter carried around a small, laminated card that is called a Vegetarian Passport.  My husband ordered it online and it says, in Japanese, “I am a vegetarian and I do not eat seafood, meat, chicken or pork.”  I highly recommend this for people who have eating requirements. My husband ordered ours from Selectwisely.com.

Here is my problem – I did not write down and I cannot remember the name of any restaurant.  It was all random choices based on the photos, the little plastic food models, and whether the place was crowded.  I can honestly say that two of my favorite meals came from street stands.  The first was a bowl of soft, custardy tofu that we bought from a tofu stand in Sagano.  The tofu came in a proper bowl with soy sauce, green onions and ginger.  Along with several other Japanese, we sat on benches and ate our delicious little meal.  When we were done, we returned the bowl to the stand.  The second were the little stands that sell onigari, rice balls that are stuffed with various fillings.  They are particularly good when they are grilled!

Food display at White Lover Cafe & Restaurant

Rather than recommend any restaurants, I am going to provide you with a list of the foods that you can find in Japan and our favorites.  This works because, unlike your local Japanese restaurant, restaurants in Japan tend to specialize in one type of food.  If you want sushi, go to a sushi restaurant.  If you want tempura, go to a tempura restaurant. Even if you don’t read Japanese, you can always recognize the food because most restaurants have pictures of the food or a window case in which they display plastic menu items.  Very often, you can just point to the picture or model.  To read about restaurant/eating etiquette, go to my post Japan: Customs and etiquette.

First, I am going to list the most common Japanese food.  The, I am going to list the foods that we ate in Japan.

COMMON FOODS:

TONKATSU – Fried Pork Cutlet.

TEMPURA – Vegetables and fish in a light batter, deep fried.

Slurping udon at Buddhist temple

SOBA and UDON – Japanese noodles that are often served in a soup or fried. Soba are noodles made from buckwheat flour, while Udon are noodles made from wheat flour.

RAMEN – It’s not the dry noodles that you ate throughout college.  Ramen contain delicate, often homemade, noodles with a choice of broth bases and toppings. Often, a ramen restaurant will specialize in one kind of ramen.  Noisily slurping your ramen is perfectly acceptable and expected. A sharp intake of air can cool down the noodles that are best eaten as fresh as possible.

YAKITORI – Pieces of chicken or pork skewered on bamboo sticks and cooked over charcoal. After cooking they are dipped into a special sauce.

OKONOMIYAKI – A thick pancake-like dish made of a delicious mixture of batter, vegetables and small pieces of meat or fish. There are restaurants where the customers cook at their own table, adding spices as they desire.

DONBURI – Rice (unseasoned) topped with meat, seafood or vegetables.

SUKIYAKI – A one pot meal in which the main ingredient is thinly sliced beef, simmered in a skillet or pan with sukiyaki broth, vegetables and other ingredients. Once the food is cooked, the Japanese then dip the food into a small cup containing raw egg and soy sauce. Almost always, the cooking is done entirely by the customers to suit their own tastes.

SHABU SHABU – similar to Sukiyaki, thin strips of beef and vegetables are cooked in a pot of boiling broth. Very often, the customers usually cook their own food right at the table.

SUSHI – Small bite-sized blocks of rice topped with raw fish. Sushi actually refers to the style of the food, not the contents, and does not necessarily mean raw fish.  Here are a few tips on eating sushi in Japan:

• You can order a set of sushi with a fixed price or order sushi pieces as you eat.
• It’s nice to ask the sushi chef for his/her recommendation of the day.
• If you are not ordering a set of sushi, order a few kinds of sushi at a time.
• Put a small amount of soy sauce for dipping in a small dish provided and add the wasabi.  Refill as needed.
• To eat sushi, it’s common to use your fingers.
• When dipping sushi in the soy sauce, do not dip whole sushi. Just dip the end of the sushi as you eat, fish side down.
• When eating the rolled sushi, put the entire piece in your mouth as it falls apart.  With the pressed sushi, you can take bites.
• Eat pieces of pickled ginger between different kinds of sushi. It helps to clean your mouth and enhance the flavors
• Try not to ask the sushi chef to bring you things like a drink or your bill.
• It’s nice to offer to buy your sushi chef a drink if he/she is doing a good job.

Conveyor belt sushi restaurants, or kaiten-zushi, are great places to eat sushi. At a kaiten-zushi restaurant, you wait until your favorite sushi comes near you, then you pick up the plates from the moving table. If your favorite is not moving on the table, you can order it. The types or colors of plate which sushi pieces are on indicate prices of sushi. If you want to save money, you can avoid picking up expensive sushi. The prices are usually between 100 yen to 300 yen per plate.

SASHIMI - Thin slices of different types of fish served on a platter or in a bowl along with a few raw vegetables.  Sashimi is usually eaten as an appetizer or as one course of the meal, but sometimes it will be the main dish.

BENTO or O-BENTO – Japanese box lunch. Many are sold in train stations for travelers.  They are yummy and fresh – don’t be put off by the location.  Bento lunches usually include a large portion of rice and an assortment of meat, fish vegetables, and pickles. Bento are always made fresh the morning they are sold. There is no attempt to keep them warm, so the contents are always cold when you get them.  You can find Bento boxes in grocery stores, street stands and department store food courts.

JAPANESE CURRY – Japanese curries are more like a stew with curry than Indian curry.  It is commonly served in three main forms: curry rice (karē raisu), karē udon (thick noodles) and karē pan (bread). Japanese curry consists of vegetables and meats, including onions, carrots, potatoes, beef, pork and chicken. Usual garnishes are fukijin zuke, a sweet mixture of mystery pickled vegetables, and rakkyou, small pickled shallots.

WHAT WE ATE:

MITARASHI DANGO – These are wonderful, sticky, chewy balls made of rice dough, which are grilled on a skewer and covered with a sweet-salty barbeque sauce.  They are sold at little street stands and packaged.  According to my daughter “These are the best thing in the world.”

ONIGIRI – I LOVE these rice balls stuffed with all kinds of filling, ranging from salmon to ume paste.  They are sold in little street kiosks, often close to the subway station.  Sometimes, they are made into the shape of a pyramid!

JAPANESE SANDWICHES – If I read one more blog that bashes the Japanese sandwich, I don’t know what I am going to do.  They are tiny bundles of goodness, consisting of thin slices of fluffy, white bread and all kinds of filling: ham & cheese, egg salad, bacon & egg salad, tuna salad and my two favorites – potato salad and fruit filling.  You can eat several in a sitting.  I think people are just anti-white bread.  Personally, I think that Japanese white bread ROCKS!  Also, these are great for picky eaters who are having a little difficulty maneuvering the Japanese food situation.

INARI SUSHI – Inarizushi is a pocket of yumminess, which consists of aburaage (deep fried tofu) bags stuffed with sushi rice.  See my posto on Kyoto to learn about Fushimi Inari Taisha (Fushimi Inari Shrine), which is a Shinto shrine dedicated to Inari, the god of rice, sake, and prosperity.

DORAYAKI – Lovely little yellow sponge cakes that are pressed together and filled usually with red bean pasted. However, when we were in Japan, Yuzu (Japanese citrus) was in season and often used as a filling.  You will see street vendors all over with these cool little pans in which they make the dorayaki.  The name is based on its shape, which resembles a dora, or gong.

Here are several websites that will help you explore your culinary options in Japan:

Restaurant resources:

• Bento.com
• Gourmet Navigator

Vegetarian resources

• Survival Guide for Vegetarians (Not Only) in Japan
• Vegguide.org

Great Japanese food blogs – I love these two!

• Just Bento
• Just Hungry

Tofu:

Tofu in Japan is NOTHING like the tofu we eat in America.  It is a culinary delight that comes in many forms.  In fact, there are entire Tofu restaurants (not necessarily vegetarian). Learning about Kyoto: Tofu is a great article about the many delights of tofu.

Homemade tofu is delicious and not too hard to make (the hardest part is making the soymilk). Just Hungry has a great recipe.

Here are some absolute “must-haves” for creating authentic Japanese meals!

There are a few tips that I would like to give you when booking your lodging so that you can avoid the same mistakes:

1. Make sure that you are clear about the room cost – is it per room or per person?
2. Get a written confirmation.
3. Make sure that you are clear about the toilet and shower situation.  If you want/need a toilet and shower in your room, you will have to stick with a traditional hotel or ryokan (although not all ryokans have private baths).

With those few things in mind, here is a basic run-down of your choices:

Hotel Remm Akhibara: Really cool bathrooms and massage chair in each room.

Hotels:

Hotels range from super luxurious to the love hotel, which charges by the hour. Most hotels have western style beds and bathrooms, as well as restaurants and all the mod cons.  Business hotels offer reasonable prices for shorter stays.  Theses hotels are usually close to train stations. Rooms are small, but clean and provide all the necessities.

Love Hotels:

If only we had not been with our daughter and my step-mother, my husband and I would have definitely checked into a Love Hotel – just for the experience. Love Hotel Hill in the Shibuya district of Tokyo is perhaps the country’s most famous area for these houses of fun. Given the close living quarters in Japan, Love Hotels make sense for couples who require some privacy.

Capsule Hotels:

Definitely not for me – where is the air?  However, many others find these quite acceptable if not a curiosity. Usually used by commuters and business men, these generally consist of six to eight capsules built into a wall, just big enough for a person to lay down. I am hyperventilating just writing about them!

Youth Hostels:

There are plenty of youth hostels dotted throughout Japan. Most hostels require a membership, which can be purchased at the first hostel. Japanese Youth Hostels are safe, friendly and clean and are used to accommodating international travelers. Japan Hostels commonly apply a pre-midnight curfew, so these are not for the “all-night” partiers.

Ryokan:

Ryokan are Japanese style inns that provide the culture and traditions of historic Japan. Ryokan range from small wooden traditional buildings, where you bump your head every time you stand up, to the large concrete structures that are common-place in Japanese cities.  Although they can be as luxurious as hotels, ryokan will not provide all the mod-cons but focus on quality and traditional service, atmosphere and relaxation.  Ryokan rooms are usually furnished with tatami flooring, a low table and cushions (zabuton) for sitting.  Most ryokan rooms contain a tea set to enjoy some Japanese tea. Guests sleep on a futon which is rolled out and put away in an ‘oshiire’ (a closet for futons) each day by the Ryokan staff.

Most ryokan offer breakfast and dinner,  which is included in the room rate.  In many instances, meals are served in the guest’s room or taken in a large communal dining area. Ryokan pride themselves on their food and many Japanese choose a ryokan for its meals. The meals served are traditionally Japanese, consisting of fish, rice and sweets fresh from the local area.  Some ryokan will give you the option of not taking the meal, which will reduce the price.

Most ryokan have an onsen (Japanese spa, which may be either natural hot springs or man made.  They often have communal hours and gender separated hours.  Some ryokan offer private baths.  See my post Japan: Customs and etiquette to learn how to use the onsen properly and not embarrass yourself.

Minshuku:

I like the minshuku option as it provides a true “Japanese experience.”  They are more like Japanese style b&bs or budget ryokan.  In most cases, minshuku are simply a room, section or floor of a family’s home with a shared bathroom and common room. Like ryokan, rooms are simply furnished and guests are provided with a futon to sleep on which they may be required to put away and roll out themselves.  In some cases, meals are included in the price or available for a small cost.

Temple Lodging:

I did not get to stay in a temple but I really wanted to – especially since we are vegetarians and could experience the Buddhist vegetarian meal – shojin ryori.  Temple lodging, which are called shukubo, are similar to traditional Japanese inns, and anyone can stay regardless of his or her religion. If you are so inclined, you can join in their Zen meditation.  The prices are not necessarily cheap but the experience seems worth it.  When researching the shukubo, I found that most don’t have English speaking staff or take credit cards.  It appears that the best place to partake in the temple lodging is is Mt. Koya. There are over 100 temples in Mt. Koya, and about 50 temples offer lodgings.   I will definitely do this on my next visit to Japan.

Here are a few websites with information about and lists of lodging options:

General listings:

• Japan Accomodations has a great listing of many different style lodgings.
• Japan Travel Online lets you find lodging by neighborhoods and close to sites.
• Rakuten Travel offers good discounts and has complete listings
• Japanican.com is another great source for lodging.
• Japan Economy Hotel Group provides a good listing of less expensive lodging.

High End:

• Exquisite Ryokan The name says it all.
• IKYU lists the top hotels.  Check out Claska in Tokyo.  I really want to stay there!

Hostels:

• Japan Youth Hostels
• Hostel World’s Japan listings

Temple Lodging:

• Temple Lodging in Japan provides a good listing of the various temple lodging and travel instructions
• Article about Vegetarian Cuisine and Mt. Koya

Hot Springs and Nature Experiences:

• National Park Resort Villages of Japan contains a list of lodging, all of which are located in national parks.
• Hot springs onsen throughout Japan.