Umami Mart

“I hate Tokyo.” S’s face was perfectly serious. “Sapporo is so much better — less people, nice weather, great seafood, lots of snow… and Tokyo sucks during the summer.” I’ll never hate Tokyo but you can’t argue with a Sapporo boy on that last point. Hokkaido is one of the best places to be during […]

Los Angeles to San Francisco. San Francisco to Tokyo. Tokyo to Sapporo. Plane to train to subway to foot. 33 straight hours of travel and my first meal in Japan made it all worthwhile. Welcome to すみれ (Sumire). My couch-surfing hosts initially thought my ramen fixation was a cute diversion but quickly realized they were […]