Two Traditional Japanese Foods That Actually Came From Portugal

When you hear about certain things, you automatically associate them with Japan. Japan has this gift of taking on things and breathing new life into them, giving them a new identity waiting to be discovered. Their oldest modern trading partners, the Portuguese, gave them some of what now consider the most iconic parts of Japanese […]

The Deadliest Food in Japan: Mochi

You thought it was pufferfish (fugu), didn’t you? Well, as risky as that particular food may be, it doesn’t hold a candle to that sticky rice confection that takes the widest variety of forms. Usually, Japan sees a spike around New Year’s in hospitalizations from eating this treat, as well as a few deaths. What […]

Sayama Tea Festival 2019

Out in Saitama Prefecture is Sayama City, a proud producer of tea for Japan. They’re pretty niche, though, producing less than 1% of all tea for the nation. Regardless, they have a strong tea tradition which is on display during the annual Sayama Tea Festival, which we were fortunate enough to take part in this […]

Ramune

So, you think you know soda? Think again! Ramune is the summer soda of choice and is the defacto soda flavor in the country of Japan. It’s not the taste of Pepsi or Coke, oh no! Those are cola flavors, not soda! The fun drink gained popularity overseas for its novel marble seal and the […]

Coedo Beer Festival 2019

Every year, local brewery Coedo throws a little shindig to celebrate the joys of craft brewing. They invite tons of local vendors, do some interesting collaborative brews, and offer all sorts of entertainment for the fine people of Kawagoe.

Gekkeikan Sake Museum

Gekkeikan is a very popular sake brand in Japan, and near Kyoto in Fushimi, you can visit a very nice little museum they’ve put together to show visitors the process of making sake, a bit of sake history, and an exhibit dedicated to the history of the Gekkeikan brand.

Yokohama Cup Noodles Museum

Hot on the heels of fresh, hand-made ramen from around the great nation of Japan we come to what the Japanese once voted as the single greatest invention of all-time: Instant Noodles. In Yokohama, you can venture into the Cup Noodles Museum, where a variety of instant noodle-based fun can be had by people of […]

Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum

A short walk away from the Shinkansen station in Shin-Yokohama rests the world’s first food-based amusement park. Established back in the 1990s, the Ramen (sometimes spelled Raumen) museum hosts a small museum to ramen and an extraordinary food court that serves varieties of ramen from all across Japan.

Dinner at Hatsuneya Garden

Ever since we gave a course meal a go at Commander’s Palace, we’ve been intrigued by what different restaurants have to offer. Luckily, we have a very well-established restaurant in our very own city that offered a course menu with some more Western-styled offerings, but, was nonetheless, a very Japanese experience.

Voodoo Doughnut: Mile High

If you know anything about doughnuts or Portland, then you know Voodoo Doughnuts. Renowned for their quirky take on the delicious breakfast ring, they have doughnuts with fruity cereal bits, various cream fillings, and their titular doughnut that resembles a voodoo doll being stabbed in the heart by a pretzel. While in Colorado, I was […]