Ryo Iwa– Author –
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Where to Buy and Try Osechi in Japan: A Practical Guide for Travelers
It is December 30, and the department store food hall is packed. Lacquered boxes glow under the lights in black, red, and gold. Inside sit glossy black soybeans, golden chestnut paste, pink and white fish cake, bright prawns, and small d... -
Kaizoku Ryori (海賊料理)
Kaizoku Ryori translates as pirate cuisine, and it means grilling seafood yourself at the table in southern Tokushima. Spiny lobster, abalone, turban shells, and scallops go straight onto a mesh grill in front of you. Some restaurants si... -
Japanese single malt and five whisky traditions
Japanese single malt is part of a much wider whisky world, alongside established traditions such as Scotch and Irish whiskey and newer or developing categories such as American and Australian single malt. This article compares Japanese s... -
Obanazawa Watermelon (尾花沢スイカ)
Obanazawa watermelon, or Obanazawa suika (尾花沢スイカ), is a summer fruit from Obanazawa in northern Yamagata Prefecture. Growers there work in a mountain basin where August days turn hot, while the nights cool sharply. That gap is gene... -
Ancient Sake in Japan: Rice, Ritual and Origins
Ancient sake in Japan was not the clear, filtered nihonshu poured today. The term covers a loose family of rice-based alcoholic drinks tied to farming, ritual, and early political life. Some were cloudy. Some were probably closer to a th... -
Japanese Christmas Cake: A Complete Guide to Japan’s Holiday Tradition
Japanese Christmas Cake: A Complete Guide From the classic strawberry shortcake to premium hotel creations — everything you need to know about Japan's most beloved holiday tradition Every year on Christmas Eve, almost every family in Jap... -
Seki no To (関の戸)
Seki no To (関の戸) is a bite-sized Japanese sweet from Seki-juku, an old post town in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture. One small shop wraps smooth red bean paste in gyuhi, a soft rice dough, then dusts the whole thing in wasanbon sugar. That p... -
Tekonezushi (てこねずし)
Tekonezushi is a traditional regional sushi dish from Mie Prefecture, made with red-fleshed fish marinated in a soy sauce tare and folded through vinegared rice. Bonito is the classic choice, though tuna appears often. Shiso, ginger and ... -
History of Sake: From Ancient Rice Fermentation to Modern Nihonshu
The history of sake stretches back roughly two thousand years, at least if you use the word broadly for Japanese alcoholic drinks made from rice. Yet the earliest rice-based drinks were nothing like modern nihonshu. The sake people pour ... -
Chogo (調合): Blending and Adjusting Sake for Consistent Quality
Two tanks of sake sit side by side in a storage building. Same rice, same yeast, same recipe, same brewing season. Yet one tastes rounder, while the other carries sharper acidity. So what happens next? Somebody tastes both, then decides ...