some words about Japanese food

Ahoy,

I'll never tire of Japanese food. This trip was an excellent excuse to gorge on one of my favorite foods, which happens to be prominent in Japanese culture: rice. Daily, I would get 1 or 2 omusubis/onigiris. They were the best part of my day. I would get one for morning snack, afternoon snack, midnight snack. I would not have minded all my meals of convenience store rice balls. But, alas, the boys wanted other foods.

We got ramen at some chain shop that I'm told is considered "alright," to which the RRS stated is better than anything in the States. Ramen is considered the fast food of Japan. And H says his cholesterol has definitely suffered for it. We spent close to an hour or more looking for a specific udon place he found online reviews for. My heart dropped when he actually selected a specific place. I knew that addresses didn't mean anything nor street signs. Everywhere else we had been was chosen on the fly in front of the shop. It was so nondescript, I was so shocked we actually got there. It probably tasted better for it.

We had conveyer belt sushi which was amazing. That's probably the one meal I would want to repeat. I'm not the biggest fan of noodles (I'm sure you all just stopped being my friend right there), but I love rice and fish. Which happened to be our next meal - sashimi atop a bowl of rice (READ: heaven in a bowl). At the izakayas we went to, we'd order tapas style little plates to share of so many delicious foods. A loved the yakitoris. He was always craving red meat.

I'm sure the RRS loved all the noodles. But I would guess his favorite was mochi, which was everywhere. And he ate all of it. We both died over the matcha soft serve, also everywhere. H convinced me to purchase it and then commanded us to run to the train station, ice cream in hand. Here I was expecting a leisurely stroll to enjoy my cone. I was on a mission to drink as much bottled milk tea from as many brands as possible. At bakeries, we'd snag stuff that had just come out of the oven. Everything was so light and airy and delicious.

All the food in Japan is delicious. The kind of craftsmanship, attention-to-detail, specialist type of culture you often hear about is definitely pervasive throughout their dining.

mouthwateringly chewy,
jt