The Tokyo Traveler

This past weekend I accidentally attended the grand opening of Eataly, a great to place to taste and shop for Italian wines, cheese, breads, pastries and almost everything else that you can imagine in Tokyo’s Daikanyama neighborhood.  And what a great accident it was! 
Surrounding a stone paved courtyard with relaxing patio seating, near Daikanyama’s landmark green flower, Eataly is the largest Italian food & wine center in Japan.   The store is a bakery, deli and wine store all rolled into one great location and also offers prepared food that you can take home and a variety of dine-in offerings. 
La …read more

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If you have a love of ramen then you will adore Ramen Tokyo, a site that offers reviews of ramen shops throughout the Tokyo Metropolitan area and was recently featured by The Washington Post. The man behind Ramen Tokyo prefers to remain anonymous but he kindly granted me an interview via email so that I could share his love of this great Japanese food with you!
The story behind Ramen Tokyo goes like this, several years ago an IT guy from New Jersey moved to Tokyo for work and discovered a love of ramen.  He says that he always …read more

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Don’t be surprised to find that some things a just a little bit different than you are used to when you visit Tokyo for the first time.  The city is very welcoming to visitors but some of the differences that you find may surprise you, frustrate you, or amuse you but one thing is for certain, there are some differences!
Bring an open mind with you when you come and you are sure to have a great time while collecting fun travel stories to share with your friends and family when you return home.  Here are 10 practical things that you …read more

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Are you a vegetarian looking for dining options in Tokyo?  If so, then you will definitely want to try shojin ryori, the traditional food of Zen monks in Japan, which is pure vegan and is in rooted in Buddhist teachings dating back to the 13th century. 
A shojin ryori meal consists of seasonable vegetables and wild plants accompanied by with seaweed, miso soup, rice, soybean curd (tofu), seeds and nuts.  This simple style of cooking limits the use of sauces and seasonings and highlights the distinct flavors of each fresh ingredients.
Some temples in the Tokyo area serve shojin ryori to …read more

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How hard is it really to learn Japanese? is a great article with a little bit of history of the language and it’s origins.
Reuters lists Top 10 “weird activities” around the world features the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun Wine Spa in Hakone, Japan at number eight. Yep, you read it right, the spa website says that bathing in wine is a rejuvenation treatment for the body, and that the Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra loved to bath in wine.
Traditional court music or gagaku, …read more

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Summer brings out the fireflies in Tokyo and from May 24-July 18 you can bask in the their lovely glow while dining on the grounds of Chinzan-so, a sprawling historic garden in central Tokyo.  Hotaru no yube (“firefly nights”) have been held annually on the grounds since 1954. 
Three different menus are offered:

An all-you-can-eat and-drink buffet feast of Japanese and western style cuisine from 7PM with a two hour time limit in the banquet room. ¥9,000 for adults (¥10,000 weekends) and ¥2,000-¥4,000 for kids. Those over age 60 will get a ¥1,000 discount. 
Kinsui traditional Japanese restaurant will serve a “firefly …read more

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Between the Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace you will find the ultra modern Marunouchi District of Tokyo. The shining Shin-Marunouchi Building is the newest building on the block and is one of the largest shopping and dining complexes in front of Tokyo Station.
The high-rise tower reaches a height of 198m (650 feet) and houses four floors dedicated to restaurants that feature cuisines running the gamut from traditional Japanese to Brazilian Barbeque and Modern Australian and everything in between.  An additional four floors are dedicated to wide variety of retail stores.  The remaining 30 floors house various corporate offices.
Fusing …read more

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One of the coolest things that you can do when you come to Tokyo is eat at a Kaitenzushi restaurant.  This month marks the 50th anniversary of this very cool dining experience where your sushi is brought to you on a conveyor belt.  The Daily Yomiuri reports that the first conveyor belt sushi restaurant opened in 1958 in Osaka. 
“Operator Yoshiaki Shiraishi equipped a sushi restaurant counter with a revolving belt after seeing a conveyer belt at a beer factory and thinking that it could reduce the work of waitstaff….Shiraishi dreamed of making sushi, which was once considered a …read more

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If you have a craving for great American food you will find it at Homework’s restaurant in Hiro-o. They claim to have the best char-broiled burgers and sandwiches in Tokyo and I can’t disagree. The bilingual menu offers a variety options, the staff are friendly and the service is prompt.
When we went my husband had a cheeseburger, I had the shrimp and avocado sandwich and we shared a small order of fries. The prices aren’t cheap, our lunch set us back around Y3,000 ($30USD), but the quality of the food is excellent and the portions are generous. …read more

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English OK! is a directory of service business in Japan that offer services in basic English and restaurants that offer English menus. One of the neat features that they offer is a page where you can download and print coupons for restaurants, salons and other services in the Tokyo area.
The coupons are mostly for restaurants serving American or other international cuisine but there are a few Japanese restaurants listed. Restrictions and discounts vary by coupon so be sure the read the fine print. Coupons are sorted by location so it’s easy to find a restaurant near …read more

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