Tag Archives: food culture

Fun Link Friday: Edible Toast Masterpieces of Japanese Art

Posted on May 14, 2021 by Paula

In the past we’ve shown a variety of tasty pieces of art for Fun Link Fridays, typically of the bento variety. But what if toast was your literal canvas? Last month My Modern Met featured a piece on Japanese designer … Continue reading →

Book Announcement: Eating Wild Japan: Tracking the Culture of Foraged Foods, with a Guide to Plants and Recipes

Posted on December 20, 2020 by Paula

Eating Wild JapanTracking the Culture of Foraged Foods, with a Guide to Plants and Recipes Winifred Bird with illustrations by Paul Poynter From bracken to butterbur to “princess” bamboo, some of Japan’s most iconic foods are foraged, not grown, in … Continue reading →

Posted in announcements, culture | Tagged book announcement, food culture, food history, foraged food, Japan | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: Super-sized Sushi 🍣

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Paula

Are you a hungry sushi enthusiast? Are you ready to tackle an 11 pound “Generous Roll”? Check out our quickie fun link Friday today, a video by Great Big Story on Hiromu Inagaki, who makes massive (and tiny!) sushi! Click … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged food, food culture, fun link friday, Japan, Japanese food, sushi | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: Move over, gingerbread house, here’s a sweets sailboat

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Paula

While many of us may be honing our skills for seasonal gingerbread house competitions, none of us can hold a candle to the students of the recently opened Noda Kamada Gakuen vocational high school in Yokohama, who created a MASSIVE … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged cookies, culinary school, food, food culture, Japan, sweets | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: Cookie Masterpieces of Japan

Posted on January 12, 2018 by Paula

Ever attempted to make a beautiful holiday cookie to discover it just didn’t turn out to be much more than a blob with sprinkles? Never fear, this week’s quickie Fun Link Friday introduces the masterful cookie decorating skills of Chihiro Ogura, … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged art, cookies, food, food culture, Japan, Japanese art, Japanese culture | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: The Secrets of Soy Sauce

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Paula

Though it can be found in various forms across Asia, soy sauce is easily one of the most iconic elements of Japanese cooking. With a long and diverse history, some families have maintained secret recipes for hundreds of years and regional variations bring … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged food, food culture, fun link friday, history, Japan, soy sauce | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: Matcha… beer?

Posted on February 24, 2017 by Paula

Like it or not, if you spend enough time in Japan, you’ll probably develop a taste for matcha/maccha 抹茶 (green tea). I know I didn’t like tea at all (still don’t like coffee!) but somewhere along the lines it grew … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged beer, food, food culture, green tea, Japan, tea | 1 Comment

Book Announcement: Japan’s Cuisines: Food, Place and Identity

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Paula

Japan’s Cuisines: Food, Place and Identity Eric C. Rath (Reaktion Books, 2016) Cuisines in Japan have an ideological dimension that cannot be ignored. In 2013, ‘traditional Japanese dietary cultures’ (washoku) was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Washoku’s predecessor … Continue reading →

Posted in announcements, culture | Tagged books, culture, food, food culture, Japan, Japanese culture | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: Osaka River kaitenzushi

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Paula

A group called The Osaka Cavas put on a delicious-looking art show recently in Osaka that featured giant plates of sushi floating on down Osaka’s Dōtonbori Canal like it was any old conveyor-belt sushi restaurant. Is your stomach rumbling yet? … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged food, food culture, fun link friday, history, Japan, kaitenzushi, sushi | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: Halloween Oden

Posted on October 30, 2015 by LM

ハッピーハロウィン！ In the past, we’ve hosted Halloween FLFs on Halloween bento, so today I’m pleased to present the Halloween oden! Here are instructions on how to make all the normal oden ingredients (plus carrots and tomatoes) into adorable pumpkins, mummies, and ghosts. … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged food, food culture, fun link friday, Japan, Japanese food, oden | Leave a comment