Umami Mart

Every time I would go to someone’s house in Tokyo, they would likely offer me sencha before I even settled onto my zabuton or chair. Sencha is made by steaming green tea leaves, shaped into thin rolls, dried and then pan-fried or fired to lock-in the flavor. Pretty common in the U.S. as well, most […]

In Japan, there are a LOT of food items you can only find in a specific to a town, city, or area. ご当地グルメ or “local gourmet food” items are something tourists must get when they visit the area. Some of the foods are too weird to ever become popular, and others get national attention, becoming […]

Natto is the one of those foods that elicits strong reactions. I get overwhelmed with a sense of joy and excitement, but the response I hear from most people (who aren’t from or aren’t descendants of the eastern regions of Japan) is pure disgust. I remember how clueless I was junior year in college when […]

Osechi is traditional new year’s food, and one of the most significant meals of the year in Japan. Back in the old days, when women were supposed to serve the men in the family, the first three days of the new year was the only time they didn’t have to cook. Although Japanese men were […]

Happy New Year everyone! This year’s resolution for me is to try to post more since I’ve been pretty lazy for some time now. I went home last month, and found a couple of interesting items that hasn’t been posted by Yoko in Tokyo JUNKtion. 1.) Fanta World, BIG APPLE, Limited Edition. Fanta is widely […]

Isn’t she darling? Fujiya is a very old bakery/sweetshop chain in Japan– my dad always tells me that as a child, it was a super special treat to ever get a cake from Fujiya. This was the very last thing I ate in Japan, in Narita airport. Au revoir, Tokyo!

Update May 10, 2012: This location has since closed.  Shimokitazawa is hands down my favorite part of Tokyo. It’s teeming with youth and the elderly, shopping for knick knacks in a part of Tokyo that has no high-rise buildings — preserving a quaintness that is absent in the major hubs of the city like Shibuya […]

In Japan, the start of the satsuma mikan (tangerine) season is truly the mark of winter. It’s a specific breed of oranges that are sweet like honey and the skin just peels right off. My folks have a satsuma tree in the backyard. Lucky me! Here’s my bounty for the week– there I am in […]

Dear De Cecco, Barilla, and all other major pasta producers of the world: you should be ashamed of yourself, letting Japan come up with the smartest packaging for pasta EVER. This one is “Mama” brand that my own mama Hideko picked up at the Japanese grocery store. Kinda ironic that she would even consider buying […]

One of my favorite drinks I discovered since living in Tokyo is Kishu Ryokucha Umeshu (Green Tea Plum Liquor). I am a sucker for green tea anything, and when I discovered that there was a drink that fused green tea with one of the other things I am a sucker for — umeshu, I was […]