Japan Recap

Food Culture, Top Hits, and Hindsight

I have mixed feelings about my trip to Japan…

What I mean by this is that the trip was overall 10/10, amazing, interesting, and fun, and I had the best time. My mixed feelings come from some of the food in Japan. The food, as a whole, was delicious! However, in Japanese culture, they truly take no food waste to the extreme, and you are served any and all parts of the meat, vegetable, or other food that you are given.

For example, in one Yakitori lunch, I had chicken breast, thigh, gizzard, throat, heart, liver, and wing (this does not include sides). This meal was honestly delicious, and we found out after the meal that we stumbled into a restaurant that had a three-month waiting list but decided we looked nice and could fit into one of their last-minute lunch cancellations. Who knew there was a 3-month waiting list for a full chicken experience? I was certainly well-fed this entire trip.

No matter what style of restaurant I visited, every dish was served with beautiful presentation and meticulous attention to detail. In Japan, meals include multiple smaller-portion courses, compared to the US, where we are served one gigantic portion. I did not have a single negative experience with any staff at a restaurant.

Surprisingly (or maybe not?), one of the most delicious meals I had in Japan was… pizza. To be fair, this wasn’t just any pizza—it’s world-renowned and even a favorite of Jeff Bezos. Pizza Studio Tamaki, a small but highly regarded restaurant with two locations in Tokyo, delivered an unforgettable experience. The atmosphere was fun, inviting, and intimate, with a dark, cozy ambiance and an open kitchen where we could watch the chefs prepare our wood-fired pizzas.

We ordered the Tamaki (cherry tomatoes, fresh smoked mozzarella, pecorino romano, basil) and the Bismark pizza (Fresh mozzarella, Mushrooms, Homemade pork sausage, Pecorino romano, Benikujaku Egg). Both were incredible, but if I had to choose, I think the Bismark was my favorite!

The BEST meal I had in Japan was a traditional Omakase sushi experience—featuring, surprise, surprise, about 17 courses! We sampled over nine different types of fresh fish, served nigiri-style, with each bite somehow better than the last. My favorite was probably the tuna variations—we had three, and the medium-fatty cut was the standout for me. Sitting in front of the chefs, we watched them slice and assemble each piece with incredible precision. Despite the language barrier, we even managed to have some fun conversations, making the experience even more memorable!

The WORST meal that I had in Japan (and possibly my life) was at a traditional Ryokan in Hakone. Visiting Hakone was my one big request for the trip—I wanted to experience the steam baths and get a glimpse into traditional Japanese culture. The Ryokan itself is a whole story for another time, but the dinner? That’s where things took a turn.

We were served a full-course fugu (pufferfish) dinner. If you don’t know, pufferfish is potentially poisonous if not prepared correctly, so only highly qualified chefs can serve it. Naturally, we decided to go all in with the full experience. Big mistake.

The meal included jiggly tofu, boiled pufferfish, pufferfish sashimi, more edamame tofu, and the real kicker—pufferfish semen (which they euphemistically advertised as fugu roe… I still shudder).

The good news? I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder in my life. The entire situation was so comically absurd that, in hindsight, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. We were good sports, doing our best to eat as much as possible to avoid being rude, but deep down, all we wanted was to be back in Tokyo—preferably near the nearest 7-Eleven, where we could wash away the experience with their wide selection of ice cream and surprisingly amazing food.

As I write this, I realize that I don’t have mixed feelings about my trip or the food in Japan. Despite a few instances of nausea that were likely due to my propensity to eat all of the food I was given out of fear of being disrespectful, everything hit the spot.

Breakfast in Japanese culture is another really interesting piece of the puzzle. Often, you will find fresh salmon, tuna, seaweed salad, or fried octopus balls in the mix. For some of the less adventurous of the group (ME!!!) there is often also plenty of eggs, yogurt, and pastries. Coffee was almost everywhere, and I found it hilarious to see that almost all signage was in Japanese, but coffee seemed to always be promoted in English. I still wonder if this is because they tend to consume more Matcha than coffee or if it is something else entirely.

If I could do the entire trip all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing—not just the food, but also the sights we saw, the places we explored, and the way we chose to travel.

Let me know if you’d be interested in a more in-depth recap of our itinerary and my thoughts!