Japan offers a treasure trove of culinary delights for even the most discerning foodie.  In fact, in the biggest metropolitan areas one can often find all of the best the world has to offer cooked by native chefs and made with imported ingredients.  Many who have not been to Japan before may not know that Tokyo is truly one of the world’s great food capitals. 

The Japanese themselves take their indigenous foods very seriously and Japanese TV networks develop a large volume of programming focused solely on shows exploring food across the country.  For those who may not be too familiar with Japanese foods, as follows is a list of the most common items (and for those visitors to Japan who are culinary cowards, take solace in knowing that there is always at least one American branded fast-food establishment within a stone’s throw of even the most modestly sized train station, and sprinkled throughout most urban settings as well).

Items Listed with * = Most Similar to Western Culinary Tastes

Champon – Normally a white soup with a variety of vegetables and seafood.

Cream Stew – A white cream based stew often containing chicken, potatoes, carrots, onions, and peas.

Curry Rice - Curry sauce served over or beside a heaping portion of white rice.

Edamame – Unshelled soybeans boiled and sprinkled with sea salt.

Ebi Fry* (Fried Shrimp) - Large prawns de-shelled, breaded and then deep-fried.

Gyoza* – Half-moon shaped dumplings often fried, but sometimes boiled and containing ground pork or chicken minced with garlic, ginger and leek.

Hamburg Steakie* (Hamburger Steak) - Similar to the American dish meatloaf and often served on a sizzling platter and topped with a demi-glace sauce.

Hotu Doku (Hot Dog) – Substantially similar to the American food; all beef link typical served on a wooden stick or corn-dog style.

Hayashi Beef – Thin slices of beef cooked in a dark brown sauce with carrots and onions and served over or beside rice.

Karaage* - Soy sauce, garlic and ginger dipped and deep fried chicken thigh and leg meat chunks.

Katsu Curry – Chicken or pork cutlet breaded and deep fried served over top a bed of white rice and topped with a curry sauce.

Koroke*– Similar in style to an American croquette, a breaded and deep fried pocket typically containing a filling of mashed potatoes with ground beef, but may also contain a creamed sauce filling.

Mabo Tofu – Typically found in Chinese restaurants in Japan, tofu cooked with a semi-spicy to spicy red sauce containing ground pork and served alongside white rice.

Miso Soup – Miso (soybean derivative) paste based soup, light yellow in color and often containing one or more of the following: asari clams, tofu, enoki mushrooms.

Mochi – A dense and very sticky food product made from pounded rice.

Nabe – Hot pot of various seasonal ingredients and meat or seafood.

Nato – Pungent, fermented soybeans often eaten over rice by Japanese as a morning food.  May also been seen as a sushi ingredient.

Okinomiyaki – Cabbage and flour based pancake like food mixed with Japanese bacon slices often cooked directly in front of diners on a tabletop grill and served with a tangy brown sauce.

Oden – Fish cake, vegetables, fried tofu, daikon radish, and hard-boiled egg in soup.

Onigiri or Omusubi– “Rice balls”. Rice pressed into a triangular shape and often sprinkled with some spices.  May have varying fillings in the center from shredded salmon to pickled plums.

Oyakodon – Egg and chicken served in a bowl over white rice.

Ramen – Chinese style noodles and vegetable served hot in a large bowl with soup.

Sashimi – Raw fish served without rice.

Sausagie* (Sausages) – Pork or beef links similar in style to the American or German staples served with ground mustard.

Shabu-shabu – Thin slices of meat and vegetables, cooked quickly in boiling water in front of diners in a tabletop pot and then dipped in a special sauce before immediately eating.

Soba – Thin buckwheat noodles served cold in a pile on a mat like plate and then dipped in a sauce to which green onion, ginger, and wasabi may have been added.

Somen – extremely thin noodles served cold and dipped in a special sauce.  Popular in summer.

Sukiyaki* – Thin slices of meat and vegetables cooked in a sweet soy based sauce in front of diners and then dipped in raw egg before eaten.

Sushi – Typically raw or cooked seafood and other items served atop a small pressed mound of specially prepared rice or served in a roll with a dried seaweed outer wrapper.

Takoyaki – Chopped pieces of octopus cooked in a pancake-cake like batter in a large iron with circular depressions.

Tempura* - Shrimp and an assortment of vegetables, such as pumpkin, broccoli, and sweet potato battered and deep fried and then served with a dipping sauce.

Tendon* – Tempura over rice in a bowl.

Tonkatsu* - Pork cutlet breaded and deep-fried (more rarely pan-fried) and served with a brown tangy sauce.

Udon – Thick wheat noodles typically served hot in a bowl, but sometimes cold

Yakiniku* – Meats and vegetables cooked over a gas grill at the diners table.

Yakisoba – Soba noodles grilled with egg and vegetables and a tangy brown sauce.

Yakitori* – Grilled meats and vegetables grilled with a sweet brown sauce and served on thin wooden skewers.

Where to eat:

Train Station bento (lunch box) stand

Most train stations will have vendor stands where you can buy a packaged lunch in a box for your trip (bento).  The possible combinations of food in a bento are endless.  Interestingly many train stations become famous for a certain kind of bento offered and travelers will specifically seek out these bento boxes and even (time permitting) attempt to make a purchase while on a brief train stop.

Train station food galleries

Many larger train stations with have a variety of stands and counters where one can either get quick counter service or some prepared food to go.  Some even have a fairly large section designated solely with prepared foods that busy commuters can bring home for dinner.

Shinkansen (bullet train) mobile attendant food cart

If one is unable to purchase a bento before the start of a train trip there is no need to worry if travelling by Shinkansen (bullet train) as there is an attendant who pushes a cart from one end of the train to the other and back and forth while in route selling bento boxes, snacks, candy, beer, soda and tea.

Japanese casual service restaurants

Names like Jonathan’s, Saizeriya, and Denny’s represent the casual family dinner style eatery in Japan.  Popular meeting spots for friends to get together and enjoy a light meal and some coffee these establishments are moderately priced and have fairly conventional menus.

Japanese fast food

Names like Lotteria, and MosBurger represent the Japanese equivalent of McDonalds and Burger King.   Menu items will include typical burger fare, but with a Japanese twist (for instance curry burgers).  Fried chicken items are fairly standard so any “chicken” foreigner can likely find something to eat at one of these locations.

Japanese convenience stores

Names like Yamasaki, Seven Eleven, Lawsons, and Family Mart represent the saturated convenience store market in Japan.  It is nearly impossible not to stumble across one or more in the vicinity of any train station.  Inside one will find the standards of the convenience store category along with a good number of hot and cold ready to eat food items (from onigiri to karage).  Convenience stores offer a great last opportunity to purchase beverage items at a reasonable price before checking into any onsen resort ryokan for the evening where the mark-up on beer and soda in the vending machines inside will likely be 100% or more.

Japanese chain bakeries

Names like Vie De France, Mister Donut, DONQ, and Doutour Coffee Shop represent the primary names in chain bakeries in Japan.  Baked goods in Japan offer a quality standard perhaps second only to France, so be sure to stop in and enjoy an assortment of the truly superb breads and pastries made fresh daily.

Japanese franchises of American fast food

Names like McDonalds, Wendys, KFC, Dominos and Pizza Hut represent common eateries in urban Japan.  If predictable is what you like, McDonalds (Maku-do as popularly called by the younger generation) is the place to go.  Chicken nuggets and standard hamburgers here are for the most part indistinguishable from eating in Toledo.  There are of course some menu items one would only find in Japan; as well as subtle nuances to items offered in America (breakfast sandwiches can be the same as in the States but another standard breakfast sandwich in Japan  has the egg cooked “over easy”).  The other names mentioned above offer the same kind of predictability with variation.

Department store basements

In Japan the basements of major department stores (Takashimaya, Sogo, and others) are often populated with large grocery stores that offer a variety of hot and cold prepared foods.

Top floors of department stores

The top floors of Department stores will typically house a large variety of sit-down restauraunts.  From sushi to tempura to hamburger steak, quality should be high and the price is likely to be as well!

Izakaya (Japanese Pub)

Central to the after work business crowd Izakaya offer a wide variety of foods in appetizer size portions perfect to be shared among a group of friends or co-workers enjoying drinks.  A typical Izakaya may offer everything from sushi to sausages to grilled squid.  Locations abound in areas popular for after-work gathering.  The small portion size is perfect for experimenting with a variety of first-time food selections.