Japanese Food and the Obsession with Craft

Japanese cooking is built on a principle called "umami," that deep, savory taste that makes a bowl of ramen broth feel impossibly rich, or a piece of aged soy-glazed fish linger on your palate. But what makes eating in Japan different isn't just the flavor. It's the focus. A ramen shop owner might spend twenty years perfecting a single broth. A sushi chef trains for a decade before being allowed to prepare fish for customers. This kind of dedication is the baseline, not the exception.

Japan also has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other country, including France. But the real story is the other end of the spectrum: the 400 JPY convenience store egg sandwich that is somehow better than most sit-down meals abroad.

How Japanese Dining Works

Restaurant Types

Japan has an enormous variety of restaurant formats, and understanding them makes ordering much easier.

Shokudo are casual all-purpose eateries, often near train stations, serving set meals (teishoku) with rice, miso soup, a main dish, and pickles for 700-1000 JPY. Izakaya are Japanese pubs where you order small shared plates alongside beer and sake, like tapas bars. Most izakaya have a seating charge (otoshi) of 300-500 JPY that comes with a small appetizer you didn't order. This is normal, not a scam.

Ticket machine restaurants (shokkenki) are common for ramen, gyudon, and curry shops. You buy a ticket from a vending machine at the entrance, hand it to the staff, and sit down. No Japanese language skills needed because most machines have photos. If they don't, the top-left button is usually the most popular item, or you can point your phone at the machine with Menu Translator to see what each button actually means before you commit your coins.

Konbini (convenience stores like 7-Eleven, Lawson, and FamilyMart) deserve their own category. Japanese convenience store food is surprisingly good: fresh onigiri, bento boxes, egg sandwiches, fried chicken, and seasonal desserts, all for under 500 JPY. Many travelers eat at least one konbini meal a day without any shame.

Meal Timing

Lunch runs from roughly 11:30 to 14:00 and is when many restaurants offer their best deals. Lunch sets (ranchi setto) at mid-range restaurants often cost half of dinner prices for similar food. Dinner service starts around 17:00-18:00. Late-night options are plentiful in cities. Izakaya stay open until midnight or later, and ramen shops in entertainment districts often serve until 2:00 or 3:00.

Breakfast is the meal tourists struggle with most. Traditional Japanese breakfast includes rice, miso soup, grilled fish, pickles, and natto (fermented soybeans). Hotels that serve Western breakfast will have toast and coffee, but consider trying the Japanese option at least once. It's better than you'd expect once you get past the idea of fish before 8 AM.

Etiquette That Actually Matters

Slurp your noodles. This is not optional politeness. Slurping aerates the broth and noodles together, actually improving the flavor. Eating ramen quietly marks you as a tourist faster than anything else.

Say "itadakimasu" before eating (roughly "I humbly receive") and "gochisousama deshita" after finishing. Use the wet towel (oshibori) provided at restaurants to wipe your hands, not your face. Don't tip. It's not part of Japanese culture and can cause real confusion.

Chopstick rules: never stick them upright in rice (this resembles funeral incense), never pass food chopstick to chopstick (also funeral-related), and don't point with them. When taking food from a shared plate, use the opposite end of your chopsticks.

Japan's Food Regions

Japan's geography creates very different food cultures from north to south.

Tokyo and Kanto

Tokyo is where you'll find everything, but the city has its own identity too. Monjayaki (a runnier cousin of okonomiyaki) is a Tokyo original. Tsukiji Outer Market and Toyosu are still worth visiting for fresh seafood breakfasts. Arrive before 7:00 for the shortest waits. Ramen in Tokyo tends toward shoyu (soy sauce) and niboshi (dried sardine) styles.

The Kanto region generally favors stronger, darker soy sauce flavors compared to western Japan. Even the dashi is different. Tokyo leans on katsuobushi (bonito), while Osaka and Kyoto use more kombu (kelp).

Osaka and Kansai

Osaka calls itself "Japan's kitchen" (tenka no daidokoro), and the claim is earned. This is the street food capital. Takoyaki (octopus balls), okonomiyaki, kushikatsu (deep-fried skewers), and ikayaki (grilled squid) line the stalls of Dotonbori and Shinsekai.

Osaka-style okonomiyaki mixes all ingredients into the batter before cooking, while Hiroshima-style layers them with noodles. Asking which is better is a reliable way to start an argument.

Kyoto's food is the opposite of Osaka's: refined, subtle, and often tied to Buddhist traditions. Kaiseki, the multi-course haute cuisine, originated here. Kyoto is also the place for yudofu (simmered tofu), matcha everything, and tsukemono (pickled vegetables).

Hokkaido

Hokkaido's cold climate and dairy farming produce food unlike the rest of Japan. Sapporo miso ramen (rich, buttery miso broth with corn and butter on top) is a winter essential. Fresh seafood dominates. Uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe), and crab are cheaper and better here than anywhere else in the country. Soup curry, a Sapporo invention, is a thin, spiced curry served with rice on the side.

Kyushu and Okinawa

Hakata (Fukuoka) is where tonkotsu ramen comes from, the milky-white pork bone broth that takes 12+ hours to prepare. Kagoshima has its own ramen and also produces kurobuta (Berkshire pork). Okinawa's food has little in common with the mainland. Champuru (stir-fry with bitter melon and spam), soki soba (pork rib noodle soup), and taco rice show influences from Southeast Asia and American military presence.

Navigating Dietary Restrictions

Vegetarian and Vegan

Let's be direct: Japan is one of the hardest countries for vegetarians to navigate casually. Dashi stock, made from katsuobushi (bonito flakes), is in miso soup, noodle broth, simmered vegetables, tamagoyaki, and many sauces. A dish can look entirely plant-based and still contain fish-derived dashi.

Your best options: shojin ryori (Buddhist temple cuisine) is entirely plant-based and available at temples in Kyoto, Kamakura, and Mount Koya. In Tokyo and Osaka, apps like HappyCow list dedicated vegetarian restaurants. Indian and Nepali curry shops are common throughout Japan and reliably offer vegetarian options.

Learn the phrase "watashi wa bejitarian desu" (I am a vegetarian). Carry an allergy card in Japanese that specifies no meat, fish, or dashi. Several websites offer printable versions. Menu Translator also flags dietary information when you scan a menu, which helps catch hidden ingredients like dashi that you might otherwise miss.

Gluten-Free

Soy sauce (shoyu) contains wheat, and it's used so widely that avoiding it requires real effort. Pure soba noodles are buckwheat-based, but most soba shops add wheat flour, and the dipping sauce is soy-based. Rice dishes, grilled meats with just salt, and sashimi (without soy sauce) are your safest options. Bring your own tamari if you can. It's hard to find in regular Japanese restaurants. Scanning a Japanese menu with Menu Translator helps here too, since it breaks down ingredients for each dish so you can spot hidden wheat before ordering.

Halal

Halal options have expanded since 2020, especially in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Areas with international populations like Shin-Okubo in Tokyo have halal-certified restaurants. Several ramen chains now offer halal-certified options. The Halal Gourmet Japan app is useful for finding certified restaurants.

Practical Ordering Tips

Most restaurants display plastic food replicas (sampuru) in their windows. These are accurate representations of what you'll receive, so use them to choose before entering. Many menus have photos. In tourist areas, English menus are increasingly common, though translations can be creative. For everything else, pointing your phone at the menu with Menu Translator gives you full dish descriptions, so you know what "okonomiyaki" actually is before you order it.

At izakaya, ordering works differently than Western restaurants. You'll typically get a drink order first, then order food in rounds. Calling the server with "sumimasen!" (excuse me) is normal and expected. They won't check on you otherwise. Many izakaya now have tablet ordering systems, sometimes with English options. When they don't, the paper menus can be dense walls of kanji. That's where scanning the menu with Menu Translator pays for itself, since you can browse every dish in your own language and figure out what sounds good before the server comes over.

For sushi, the rough hierarchy: kaiten-zushi (conveyor belt, 1000-2000 JPY) for casual meals, counter sushi at mid-range shops (3000-8000 JPY) for a proper experience, and omakase at high-end spots (15,000-50,000 JPY) for a special occasion. At conveyor belt places, grab what looks good from the belt or order directly from the chef. Eat nigiri in one bite if possible, and it's acceptable to use your fingers instead of chopsticks.

Payment in Japan is still heavily cash-based, though this is slowly changing. Carry yen. Some smaller ramen shops and izakaya are cash-only. Paying is done at the register near the entrance, not at your table. Bringing the bill to you is uncommon except at higher-end places.

Cultural Details That Improve the Experience

The phrase "osusume wa nan desu ka?" (what do you recommend?) works well. Japanese chefs and servers take pride in their specialties, and asking for recommendations often gets you something better than what you'd choose yourself.

Seasonal eating (shun) matters a lot. Japanese menus change with the seasons: sakura-flavored everything in spring, cold noodles and kakigori (shaved ice) in summer, matsutake mushrooms and sanma (pike mackerel) in autumn, nabe (hot pot) and oden in winter. Eating what's in season is both cheaper and better. When seasonal specials show up as unfamiliar kanji on a menu, Menu Translator will explain exactly what the dish is so you can take advantage of what's fresh.

If you're in Japan during the morning, visit a depachika, the basement food floors of department stores. These are a lot to take in: counters selling wagashi (traditional sweets), bento boxes, pickles, prepared salads, bread, and pastries, all held to an absurd standard of quality. Depachika at Isetan Shinjuku, Takashimaya, and Daimaru are worth a visit even if you're not hungry.

Finally, vending machines. Japan has roughly 5 million of them, and they sell far more than drinks. Hot canned coffee in winter, cold green tea in summer, and occasionally stranger things. At around 130 JPY per drink, they're the cheapest refreshment available, and Boss Coffee and Georgia canned coffees are favorites among travelers.