One of the best Japanese-style restaurants that I have been to since I have been living in Japan is Sawa, in Katsuura, Chiba Prefecture. Again, one of my students owns and runs this gorgeous little Sashimi restaurant. Shingo puts a lot of effort into creating fresh, mouth watering Sashimi, Tempura and a range of local speciality dishes that will leave you wanting to go back again and again. One of my favourites is the Miso Soup and the Whole Marinated Snapper.

Believing Sashimi preparation is a form of art, Shingo often travels the world to mysterious destinations such as the Louvre and the Moulin Rouge in search of artistic inspiration. If you ever get a chance to speak to him, ask him about his recent encounter with a 10man bill at an exclusive F... Read More

My favourite restaurant without a doubt would have to be Cana (pronounced Caanya), tucked away in the small surfing town of Torami, on the Pacific Ocean side of Chiba prefecture. Cana is owned and run by one of my students Yuriko, who has a taste for fashion and an even finer palette for exotic cocktails. Her husband is a fantastic chef, and together they have created a great little place to eat excellent food, drink anything from cocktails to international beers, smoke Cuban cigars and listen to excellent music from 7pm-5am the next morning!

The menu ranges from Thai Green Curry, Lamb Beans Curry and Rocket Salmon Pizza, to Spicy Vegetable Coconut Prawns, Raw Prawn Spring Rolls and juicy tender Steak. All priced around the 800Yen mark, the value for mone... Read More

I’ve heard that food is the most difficult aspect of culture to assimilate. We can learn the language, we can adapt to new holidays and festivals, we can make accept and respond to unfamiliar behavior, but we often crave the familiar foods of home. At first, the Japanese diet may seem to consist of white rice and grilled fish. Such a limited menu would be at least boring, possibly unpalatable to many Westerners. It is important to look beyond the basic carte du jour to see that Japan has a lot of variety and many dishes that will appeal to even the most discriminating palate.

Much of the variety that is found in the Japanese diet comes as a result of the changing seasons. Different foods are eaten according to when they are harvested. Takenoko gohan (Bambo... Read More