Pack your chopsticks and celebrate thousands of years of food artistry by diving into one of the world’s most elegant, eclectic and harmonious cuisines. Spend your time spent seeing the sights and scouting out prized eating and drinking spots. Watch yakitori sizzling in front of you in a Tokyo backstreet, eat fresh-off-the-boat sashimi and learn to make soba noodles in a hands-on cooking class. Glimpse a geisha drifting through the alleyways of Gion while in Kyoto and experience a charming obanzai dinner of Kyoto-style home-cooked dishes. Stay in a traditional ryokan in Takayama and eat vegetarian shojin ryori (monastic fare) with monks in Koya-san. If you're looking for a trip that tantalises the tastebuds as well as sates a sense of adventure, this Japan Real Food Adventure ticks all the boxes.Highlights
Food is taken seriously in Japan. From the station tonkatsu restaurant to the highest end sushi, Japanese people take pride in the cooking and presentation, and any bad meal is incredibly rare
Tasting succulent Hida beef in Takayama is the definition of a melt-in-your-mouth moment
Exploring the unexpected underground foodie treasure trove that is a depachika (department store food court)
Staying alongside the brothers of a monastery in Koya-san and discovering shojin ryori – vegetarian Buddhist food - a tradition over 800 years old
Experiencing the simple pleasures of obanzai ryori – the traditional home cuisine of Kyoto – in a cooking class
Snacking on awesome and adventurous street food in the unofficial culinary capital of Osaka
- You will visit the following places:
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Naruwamachi
Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. Kanazawa sits on the Sea of Japan, bordered by the Japan Alps, Hakusan National Park and Noto Peninsula National Park. The city sits between the Sai and Asano rivers. It's known for well-preserved Edo-era districts, art museums and regional handicrafts. Kenrokuen Garden, begun in the 17th century, is celebrated for its classic landscape designs incorporating ponds and stream.
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Kyoto
Kyoto is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area. The city is known for being the headquarters of the famous video game company Nintendo.
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Tokyo
Tokyo - officially Tokyo Metropolis, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. It is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. It is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family. The city is famed for its vibrant food scene, and its Shibuya and Harajuku districts are the heart of its trendy teen fashion scene.
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Osaka
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Japan. Located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, it is known for its modern architecture, rip-roaring nightlife and delectable street food. Historically a merchant city, Osaka is traditionally considered the "nation's kitchen" (天下の台所 tenka no daidokoro) or the gourmet food capital of Japan that served as a center for the rice trade during the Edo period. The city has a long history and is home to many ancient shrines and temples, and to the famous Osaka Castle, built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the late sixteenth century.