Food!

Happy Panda Donuts

Sold at a donut shop in Ueno Station.

Taken by Kyoko Yasuda

Dango

A Japanese dumpling and sweet made from mochiko (rice flour), related to mochi (rice cake).

Sold at a stall near Shinobazu Pond within Ueno Park. *Taken by Kumiko Hirama

Taken by Akira Tamachi

Japanese KitKats

Kit Kats were introduced to Japan in 1973. There have been more than 300 limited-edition seasonal and regional flavors of Kit Kats produced in Japan since 2000.

Taken by Kenzo Tamukai

Onigiri

A Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or cylindrical shapes and often wrapped in seaweed.

Hinamatsuri doll rice balls *Provided by Noriko Misawa

Taken by Kaori Ochiai

Left: Topped with kelp tsukudani and cream cheese. Right: Topped with soy marinated yolk. *Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Oden

A Japanese one pot winter dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavored dashi broth. Ingredients vary according to region and between each household. Karashi (a type of mustard) is often used as a condiment.

A cat is staring at an oden stew with curious eyes! *Taken by Noriko Komatsu

Teishoku (Table d’hôte)

It has a fixed menu and often comes with side dishes such as pickled vegetables and miso soup.

Shirasu (Whitebait) don teishoku! *Taken by Ayumi Hirokawa

Another shirasu don teishoku *Taken by Hiromi Suzuki

Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Taken by Kumiko Kato

Sashimi boat (Funamori) combo! *Taken by Koichiro Abe

Taken by Tatsuya Kimura

Sashimi combo meal *Taken by Katsuya Nagata

Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

Taken by Akira Tamachi

Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Macrobiotic meal *Taken by Koyuki Matsumoto

Kamameshi

It literally translates to “kettle rice” and is a traditional Japanese rice dish cooked in an iron pot called a kama. Kamameshi is a type of Japanese pilaf cooked with various types of meat, seafood, and vegetables, and flavored with soy sauce, sake, or mirin (a type of rice wine similar to sake, but with a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content).

Oyster kamameshi

Clam (asari) kamameshi
*Taken by Masao Shibata

Tori Kamameshi, which is a kamameshi topped with minced chicken. *Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

Ramen

CHILLED ramen of Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture. *Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Matcha-flavored Seafood Cup Noodle *Taken by Masayuki Miyazaki

Additive-free ramen *Taken by Kiwako Agake

Made by a Mongolian ramen chef. *Taken at “Kita-otsuka Ramen” by Tatsuya Kimura

Michelin-starred ramen! *Taken at “Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta” by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

Taken by Daisuke Inoue

Taken by Ippei Ota

Taken by Rodger Sono (Pirates of Tokyo Bay)

Taken by Yutaka Toyama

Sukiyaki

It consists of thinly sliced beef which is slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients, in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin (a type of rice wine).

Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

Taken by Chika Araki

Minced pork rice (魯肉飯)

A Taiwanese style rice dish. Ground pork marinated and boiled in soy sauce is served on top of steamed rice.

Taken at Japan Taiwan Festival 2017 by Isao Tokuhashi

Sashimi

Taken by Akio Sugihara

Taken by Sosen Imai

Taken by Tijana Zdravkovic

Taken by Kyoko Yasuda

Taken by Megumi Honzawa

Huge salad plates!

Served at lunch time at Hachijuro Shoten, a wine bar in Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku.

Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

Kakigori

A Japanese shaved ice dessert flavored with syrup and a sweetener, often condensed milk.

Topped with apricot slices *Taken by Koyuki Matsumoto

Coffee-flavored kakigori *Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Craft Sake Week at Roppongi Hills

Held from April 7 until 16.

Taken by Ayami Ito

Sakuramochi

A Japanese sweet consisting of sweet pink-colored rice cake (mochi) with a red bean paste (anko) center, and wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom (sakura) leaf.

Taken by Hiromi Suzuki

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Taken by Aiko Hosoya

Nanakusa gayu (Seven-herb rice porridge)

People in many areas of Japan eat nanakusa gayu (七草粥), a type of rice porridge made with seven different kinds of spring herbs, on January 7th.

Taken by Michiko Sasaki

Donburi

A Japanese “rice bowl dish” consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients simmered together and served over rice. Donburi meals are served in oversized rice bowls also called donburi. Donburi literally means “bowl”, also frequently abbreviated as “don”, less commonly spelled “domburi”.

Tekka-don, a rice dish topped with thin-sliced raw tuna sashimi. *Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

Cold Katsu-don *Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Left: Roast beef don　Right: Steak don *Taken by Megumi Honzawa

Kaisen don (Sashimi rice bowl) *Taken by Akira Tamachi Kaisen don
Kebab don (Kebab rice bowl)
Gyu don (Beef bowl) Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

Kebab Don, Sliced doner kebab over rice. *Taken by Isao TokuhashiHuge! *Taken by Shigeki Kakutani

Taken by Ian Chun Taken by Koichiro Abe “This is ‘Una-don double’!!! Una is ‘Unagi’= Eel, Don is Bowl. I walked around Shinbashi station@Tokyo and was looking for restaurants because I was so hungry. And then I found this Japanese restaurant. You would love it if you could come over and experience one of these dishes some time soon.”Tendon, a Japanese dish consisting of tempura on a bowl of rice. *Taken by Megumi Honzawa

Kaisen don (Sashimi rice bowl) *Taken by Akira Tamachi Kaisen don
Kebab don (Kebab rice bowl)
Gyu don (Beef bowl) Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

Kebab Don, Sliced doner kebab over rice. *Taken by Isao TokuhashiHuge! *Taken by Shigeki Kakutani

Anmitsu

It is served in a bowl with sweet azuki bean paste, boiled peas, often gyuhi (softer variety of mochi) or shiratama mochi rice dumplings and a variety of fruits such as peach slices, mikan (Japanese citrus), pieces of pineapples, and cherries.

Shiratama anmitsu *Taken by Koyuki Matsumoto

Autumn pasta

Cod roe-flavored pasta topped with slices of egg plant and grated daikon radish.

Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Soft serve with hibiscus salt

It’s sold at a salt shop called “Maasuyaa” in Asabu-juban, Minato-ku.

Taken by Hiromi Suzuki

Kudzu mochi

Mochi cakes made of kuzuko, starch powder made from the root of the kudzu plant.

Matcha kudzu mochi *Taken by Miwa Mitani

Cold cherry pasta

Cold pasta topped with Japanese cherries called “Sato Nishiki”.

Made by a chef in Kasukabe, Saitama. *Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Monja-yaki

Type of Japanese pan-fried batter with various ingredients. It is made with a dough more liquid than is okonomiyaki.

Monja topped with Camembert cheese, rice cakes, minced bunching onion and seasoned cod roe. *Taken by Megumi Honzawa

Taken by Katsuya Nagata

Taiwan misua

Noodle soup popular in Taiwan. Misua is a very thin variety of salted Chinese noodles made from wheat flour. It originated in Fujian, China.

Misua combo with minced pork rice and dessert. *Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

Okinawa food

SPAM, pictured right, is a brand of canned precooked meat products. In Okinawa, the product is added into rice balls alongside eggs and used as a staple ingredient in the traditional Okinawan dish chanpuru, and a Spam burger is sold by local fast food chain.

Taken at Okinawa Matsuri 2016 by Koyuki Matsumoto

@Thai Festival (Yoyogi Park, May 14 – 15, 2016)

Tom yum noodles

Sliced mango topped with ice cream
*Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

Yakitori

Taken by Alice Chiang

Taken by Tadashi Sasaki

Taken by Akio Sugihara

Taken by Ayumi Hirokawa

All are made from vegetable ingredients. *Taken by Miyumi Chiba

Taiyaki factory *Taken by Aiko Hosoya

How to make “zenzai”

Zenzai (善哉) is a traditional Japanese dessert made from sweet azuki red beans, shiratama (白玉, sweet rice dumplings) or mochi (餅, rice cake). Almost the same as “shiruko” (汁粉), but zenzai is made from condensed paste with heat and is less watery than shiruko, like making jam or marmalade.

Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Dishes served at “Chocolate Night”

An event which shows participants the real truth behind chocolates through the dishes that are cooked with fair trade chocolates. The event is organized by Daichi Wo Mamoru Kai Co.Ltd., offers organic vegetable delivery services.

Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Taiyaki, a Japanese fish-shaped cake. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened azuki beans. *Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Matcha flavored beer! *Taken by Masami Nagase

Frozen fruit bar shop called “PALETAS” in Roppongi. *Taken by Aiko Hosoya

Kushiage (a dish of deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables) *Taken by Akio Sugihara

Taken by Miwa Mitani

Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

These look like fried chickens, but actually no. Those are fried something. Can you guess?

Taken by Tijana Zdravkovic

Photos from diehard chicken fans!

Huge Kara-age (deep fried chickens) *Taken by Isao TokuhashiTebasaki, deep-fried chicken wingtips. *Taken by Ayami Ito

¥5,000 Japanese buffet at Hyatt Regency Tokyo! *Taken by Megumi Honzawa

Taken by Yuko Murayama

Taken by Yasuaki Shikuri

Taken by Hiroko Suidobashi

Taken by Chika Araki

Menchi-katsu, a breaded and deep-fried ground meat cutlet. Menchi and katsu are phonologically modified versions of the words “mince” and “cutlet”. *Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

Tempura at a restaurant called “Kaneko Hannosuke” (Nihonbashi) *Taken by Megumi Honzawa

Taken by Kumiko Fukazawa

Taken by Shigeki Kakutani

¥500 spaghetti soup *Taken by Isao Tokuhashi

ZZaru soba (Buckwheat noodles served on a bamboo draining basket with dipping sauce) *Taken by Megumi Honzawa

Taken by Miwa Mitani

Taken by Shigeru Shimada

Taken by Akira Tamachi

Taken by Tatsuya Kimura

Taken by Miwa Mitani

Taken by Katsuya Nagata

Fried rice & soup *Taken by Akihide Kondo

Taken by Shigeru Shimada

Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi

Taken by Megumi Jojima

Taken by Kenzo Tamukai

Green tea parfeit *Taken by Miwa Mitani

Sukiyaki *Taken by Koyuki Matsumoto

Oden, a dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, Konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth. *Taken by Masanori Tsuchibuchi