A Taste o apan - ePaper - Stripes...abu, to fully enjoy these rice cakes, you should enjoy the faint aroma of cherry or oak leaves first, then remove the leaves just before eating

The 3 ‘R’s to good eating – Restaurants,

Reviews & Recipes

A Tasteof

Japan

12-page pullout

STRIPES JAPANA TA

STE OF JAPAN2MARCH 22 − MARCH 28, 2019

A taste of Yokosuka you’ll never forget

We ensure that in every dish we prepare, we add the best herbs and spices specially handpicked from Nepal and India. With our belief deeply rooted in the Eastern philosophy, we regard every customer as a god, and make sure in every way that we treat them as one. Our 5-star experienced cooks and chefs ensure the food looks as good as it is healthy. Once you come and visit us, we are confident that you will make plans to come again. We eagerly await the opportunity to serve you our delicacies!!

Antenna America is just what you need to quench your thirst! Our Kannai, Yokohama and Shinagawa branches serve up American craft beer from top U.S. craft brewer-ies. Please go to : http://www.naganotrading.com/ for more details. Our tasting rooms have rotating taps and a huge selection of bottles, all fresh from breweries thanks to our cold-chain delivery system. Chicken wings, burg-ers and other American food items all made to order at our Kannai and Yokohama branches. We have private space available upon request at our Kannai branch. An-tenna America is family friendly, so come check us out!

American craft beer is our specialty!

STRIPES JAPANA TA


Delicious Frenchcuisine in Misawa

North 40-40 is celebrating our fourth anniversary!! Join us for a wonderful French meal!! Head chef Kazu Hira-bayashi dished up food at some of Tokyo’s finest French restaurants before bringing his culinary talents to Aomori. Chef Hirabayashi and his staff use only the finest, freshest local and original French ingredients in his tasty dishes. Many from the military community have enjoyed North 40-40’s French fare and its casual and friendly atmosphere. So stop by and treat yourself to some delicious French food and wine. We can’t wait to serve you!

Beginning with an Eric Clapton guitar, Hard Rock Cafe owns the world’s greatest collection of music memora-bilia, which is displayed at its locations around the globe. For fans of music, great food and good times, Hard Rock is the go-to restaurant to get that authentic American diner-inspired cuisine wrapped in a unique musical ex-perience. So, it’s time to strike up the band! Events, like great music, are born to inspire others. At Hard Rock Cafe, we pride ourselves on delivering an exceptional ex-perience with a rock ‘n’ roll twist for each and every one of our guests.

It tastesas good as it sounds

Traditional Sweets highlight

food cultures of Japan

[email protected]

STRIPES JAPANA TA


If you have sampled the traditional sweets of Japan, you might have been surprised how different the tastes – and ingredients that include sweet potatoes, sweet beans and

rice - are from Western sweets. These sweets are not only savory, but generally extremely

fancy and beautiful. They usually are served with tea and are used for temple ceremonies, offerings and gifts. They also have a deeper meaning to the Japanese.

The traditional sweets supply nourishment to the heart, ac-cording to Mitsuo Yabu, managing director of Traditional Japa-nese Sweets Association.

“As you know, food is necessary for a man to live, but sweets are not,” he said. “But they enrich and encourage our heart with their delicious tastes and elegant looks. I think this is very important.”

“Souls exist in traditional sweets,” said Masae Arakaki of the traditional Ryukyu sweets shop Ara-

kaki Kashiten and descendent of the dynasty’s last royal chef, Arakaki Pe-chin Shukuku.

“I would like as many people as possible to be touched by these souls by enjoying these traditional sweets.”

Okinawa has its own group of traditional sweets called Ryukyu-kashi, developed under the influ-ence of both Japanese and Chi-nese during the Ryukyu Dynasty (1372-1879). “Ryukyukashi is the fruit of a Ryukyu Dynasty aes-thetic sense,” Arakaki said. “It is said that Ryukyu-kashi is 30 percent Japanese taste and 70 percent Chinese.”

According to Arakaki, exist-ing documents from that era show there were more than 230 recipes of sweets dur-ing the Ryukyu Dynasty, al-though most have been lost. The Ryukyukashi available today are mostly baked sweets, which include the famous Okinawan Cookie, “chinsuko,” and “hanabo-ru,” cookies shaped like Wisteria flowers.

While Okinawan sweets are hun-dreds of years old, the first form of Japanese sweets,

wagashi, was developed about 5,000 years during the Jomon Period. During this time, people started making food out of nuts, according to Yabu. “Smashing oak nuts into powder to make “dango” (dumplings) after removing the bitterness with water are fundamental processes for making wagashi,” Yabu said.

Another important part of wagashi is mochi, a chewy rice

cake. As rice can spoiled easily, ancient people invented a way of pre-serving it by making mochi.

“Rice cakes can be preserved for a long time without refrigera-tion,” Yabu said. “And once you cook it over a fire, it becomes very tasty.”

These two ancient sweets, dango and mochi, are mainstream wagashi today, with many popular shops specializing in them.

Various ingredients are used in wagashi, including rice, flour, sweet potatoes, beans, millet, chestnuts, sugar, seaweed and various fruit.

“As wagashi is made mainly from cereals, rice flour, nuts, beans and potatoes, the smell is very faint,” Yabu said. “Japa-nese traditionally prefer a faint smell for sweets.”

And until about 50 years ago, wagashi did not include dairy products nor eggs. However, today “most wagashi shops use these animal products for some of their sweets,” he said.

The biggest difference between wagashi and Ryukyukashi is oil. While wagashi almost contain no oil, Okinawans use a lot of oil in their sweets.

“A majority of traditional Okinawan sweets use lard for bak-ing and for flavor,” Arakaki said. “Chinsuko, for example, is a cookie using lard instead of butter, and that gives it a unique flavor.”

On the contrary, the use of oil is traditionally avoided when making wagashi, according to Yabu. “Adzuki beans are used quite often to make bean paste in wagashi, but soybeans have never been used because of the lipid,” he said. “An adzuki bean is only 2 percent fat while the soybean has 20 percent. The (veg-etable) fat makes bean paste sticky and spoils the flavor, which is why our ancestors avoided it.”

Climate also plays a part in differentiating the two tradition-al sweets. In mainland Japan, the sweets are seasonal.

“We know spring has come when kusamochi (rice-flour cake flavored with mugwort) is available in February,” Yabu said, adding that the shapes and colors of the sweets also vary from month to month. “Summer is heralded by mizuyokan (soft ad-zuki-bean jelly) and kuzuzakura (cherry-leaf-covered kuzu bun filled with bean jam), and for autumn, there are persimmon and chestnut sweets.”

Since there are not four clear seasons on Okinawa, the same sweets are sold throughout the year. “But we often shape our sweets in accordance with the season,” Arakaki said. “We shape chinsuko in a cherry-like figure in spring, and star-like for sum-mertime.”

So, exactly how popular are these traditional sweets?When the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

conducted a nation-wide survey on Japanese sweets in 1978, Yabu said the data clearly showed a majority of younger people didn’t eat the traditional sweets, while those age 70 and older did. The data made those in the traditional sweets industry wor-ry that their products would fade into history.

“However, when the ministry did the same research 28 years later, the data was still the same,” Yabu said. “The data clearly shows that people enjoy the traditional sweets as they grow older, which made us very relieved.”

Wagashi Trivia

– Do you take off the leaf?

When you eat “sakuramochi” or “kashiwamochi” sweets,

do you remove the leaf wrapping, or eat it with the leaf?

According to Mitsuo Yabu, managing director of

Traditional Japanese Sweets Association, a famed television

announcer once told viewers that a true connoisseur of

traditional Japanese sweets should eat them with leaves on,

and many believed what he said.

“That is absolutely wrong,” said a notably perturbed

Yabu. “It took me a long time to correct the public’s

misunderstanding.”

According to Yabu, to fully enjoy these rice cakes, you

should enjoy the faint aroma

of cherry or oak leaves

first, then remove

the leaves just

before eating it.

“The salty

taste of the

leaves remain

on the rice

cakes, making

the sweets even

sweeter with a

delicate flavor.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY TAKAHIRO TAKIGUCHI, STRIPES JAPAN

• SEE WAGASHI AND FOUR SEASONS ON PAGE 10

STRIPES JAPANA TA


Let us serve your Easter Brunch!

Let us handle the cooking this Easter so you can focus on spending quality time with friends and family. The Yokota Enlisted Club welcomes all ranks to the ultimate Easter Brunch! Enjoy a wide variety of food at Yokota’s one and only brunch buffet from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Try our chocolate chip pancakes, southern-style biscuits n’ gravy or one of our tasty omelets. Whatever you are craving, we have it! Savor an Easter Feast with your family and friends and be sure to use your $2 Member’s First Discount. Check our Facebook, Yokota Clubs, for more information.

Enjoy our premium Tomahawk Bone-In Ribeye available for a limited time until Mar 24th. The superior marbling of Angus from Aurora, Ill., is cut thick and flame grilled so each bite is juicy and flavorful. And don’t miss our happy hour available at our Roppongi and Shinagawa Takanawa & Konan branches. You can enjoy 18 select drinks at half price weekdays from 5-7 p.m. (This deal is available every day at Takanawa branch).

Come and explore the Outback!

Available for a limited time until Mar 24th.

STRIPES JAPANA TA


L ocated from the northern island of Hokkaido through the southern-most island of Okinawa, family res-

taurants, aka ‘famiresu’, offer a variety of unique menu items at a reasonable price, providing an indispensable dining facility for anybody in Japan.

Being stationed in Japan or Okinawa, places like Gusto, Saizeriya, Joyfull or Denny’s are probably pretty familiar to you. Some of you may regularly use these places for a cheap and quick meal.

These restaurants cover many of the popular Japanese dishes, so visiting one and scanning its thick menu will give you a good overview of the local fare.

I often take my wife and daughter, sometimes with my parents, to a family restaurant once or twice a week for an easy and inexpensive dinner.

We’ll get anything from raw fish to piz-za, salad, hamburger or any number of other meat dishes. There are also drink bars.

Thanks to family restaurants, open early morning to midnight (some 24/7 – 365), we can sample virtually any dish, anytime, anywhere.

So what qualifies a restaurant to be a “family restaurant” and not, say, a “fast food restaurant”?

According to the research company Fuji Keizai, family restaurants can be defined as a restaurant where children can visit, its price ranges are between 500 and 2,000 yen ($4.50-18) per cus-tomer, serving time takes three minutes or longer (less than three minute is cat-egorized as fast food), and there are 80 or more seats.

Since most family restaurants are franchises, price, service and menu items are the same throughout the chain, just like fast food joints McDonalds, KFC and Mister Donut.

According to Touji Kon, an essayist and researcher of the food service industry, the history of the family restaurant goes back to 1969, when a casual French res-taurant group, Royal Nakasu (currently Royal Host), introduced a so-called “cen-tral kitchen style”. The style allowed for most of the dishes to be cooked in one location, frozen and shipped to all the restaurants so each chain could offer the same dish fast and easily.

Using this new cooking style, Skylark Restaurant Group opened its first shop in

Tokyo in 1970, and a newspaper called the casual, family-oriented restaurant “Family Restaurant” for the first time. The new restaurants were rapidly ac-cepted with the name of famiresu, and have increased the number of shops throughout the nation.

As a result of stiff competition among the different chains, prices at these restaurants have contin-ued to drop. This has turned these restaurants from a special place to have a celebration, to more of a casual eatery for virtually any-body.

“Famiresu is an ideal dinning facility for solo diners, just like me,” says Kunihiko Ishii, a To-kyo salaryman who uses fam-ily restaurants almost every day for both lunch and dinner. “It has plenty of options, so I can enjoy different things for lunch and dinner depending on what I’m feeling.”

“Living alone in town, I can’t survive without famire-su,” Ishii said.

According to Ishii, daily lunch sets are available for around 500 yen ($4.50), and dinner can be less than 1,000 yen. Plus, unlimited refills at the drink bar for around 150 to 300 yen en-ables him to stay and read in a cozy restaurant for hours.

I’ll often see groups of high school

students chatting over a small meal, or foreigners giving English lessons to Japanese students at family restau-rants. The well-arranged seats, casual yet cozy interior and lighting might contribute to the hang-out friendly en-vironment.

I remember that my daughter using the restaurants as a place to study before school exams. She said it was like going to the school library, but people are able to chat and study together.

Because some of the chains have added liquor to their menu, family res-taurants have become a cheap and cozy bar for salarymen. I’ll often drop by Saizeriya or Bamiyan, both of which of-fer a 17-ounce decanter of quality wine for 390 yen ($3.50).

With cheaper adult beverages,

STORY AND PHOTOS BY TAKAHIRO TAKIGUCHI, STRIPES JAPAN

Gusto (www.skylark.co.jp/en/gusto/)Saizeriya (www.saizeriya.co.jp/)Joyfull (www.joyfull.co.jp/)COCO’s (www.cocos-jpn.co.jp/)Denny’s (www.dennys.jp/)Bamiyan (www.skylark.co.jp/bamiyan/)Bikkuri Donkey (www.bikkuri-donkey.com/)Big Boy (www.bigboyjapan.co.jp/)Royal Host (www.royalhost.jp/)

While Gusto and Saizeriya are popular in Kanto region, Joyfull overwhelms others in the West of Japan. Check out the popular Family Restaurant in your locations.

Aomori Prefecture (Misawa) 1st: Gusto, 2nd: Bikkuri Donkey, 3rd: COCO’sTokyo (Yokota, Hardy Barracks) 1. Saizeriya, 2. Gusto, 3. Denny’sKanagawa Prefecture (Zama, Yokosuka, Atsugi) 1. Gusto, 2. Saizeriya, 3. BamiyanYamaguchi Prefecture (Iwakuni) 1. Joyfull, 2. Gusto, 3. COCO’s and Big BoyNagasaki Prefecture (Sasebo) 1. Joyfull, 2. Gusto, 3. Bikkuri DonkeyOkinawa Prefecture (Foster, Kadena) 1. Gusto, 2. Joyfull, 3. Bikkuri Donkey

- Source: The 2015 research of stats-japan.com

File Photo

‘FAMIRESU’ Family restaurants in Land of the Rising Sun

Top family restaurants in Japan

Photo by Ian Waddick

Popular menu items

The followings are some of the

most popular menu items at

popular Family Restaurants.

1. Gusto: Cheese-filled hamburger

steak ………………………390 yen

2. Saizeriya: Palma-style pasta

………………390 yen

Margherita pizza………..390 yen

3. Joyfull: Egg-drop pork cutlet set

………………………………590 yen

4. Coco’s: Seafood doria…780 yen

Beef curry ………………880 yen

Photo by Yukiyo Oda

Check out popular famiresu near you!

STRIPES JAPANA TA


students chatting over a small meal, or foreigners giving English lessons to Japanese students at family restau-rants. The well-arranged seats, casual yet cozy interior and lighting might contribute to the hang-out friendly en-vironment.

I remember that my daughter using the restaurants as a place to study before school exams. She said it was like going to the school library, but people are able to chat and study together.

Because some of the chains have added liquor to their menu, family res-taurants have become a cheap and cozy bar for salarymen. I’ll often drop by Saizeriya or Bamiyan, both of which of-fer a 17-ounce decanter of quality wine for 390 yen ($3.50).

With cheaper adult beverages,

customers can enjoy cheap drinks to go along with the wide variety of foods. Plus, the late hours allow for the late-night, post-bar meal.

Whether it’s breakfast in the morning, a drink at night, or a late-night snack, these cozy restaurants offer just about everything you need at a price that’s hard to [email protected]

Gusto (www.skylark.co.jp/en/gusto/)Saizeriya (www.saizeriya.co.jp/)Joyfull (www.joyfull.co.jp/)COCO’s (www.cocos-jpn.co.jp/)Denny’s (www.dennys.jp/)Bamiyan (www.skylark.co.jp/bamiyan/)Bikkuri Donkey (www.bikkuri-donkey.com/)Big Boy (www.bigboyjapan.co.jp/)Royal Host (www.royalhost.jp/)

While Gusto and Saizeriya are popular in Kanto region, Joyfull overwhelms others in the West of Japan. Check out the popular Family Restaurant in your locations.

Aomori Prefecture (Misawa) 1st: Gusto, 2nd: Bikkuri Donkey, 3rd: COCO’sTokyo (Yokota, Hardy Barracks) 1. Saizeriya, 2. Gusto, 3. Denny’sKanagawa Prefecture (Zama, Yokosuka, Atsugi) 1. Gusto, 2. Saizeriya, 3. BamiyanYamaguchi Prefecture (Iwakuni) 1. Joyfull, 2. Gusto, 3. COCO’s and Big BoyNagasaki Prefecture (Sasebo) 1. Joyfull, 2. Gusto, 3. Bikkuri DonkeyOkinawa Prefecture (Foster, Kadena) 1. Gusto, 2. Joyfull, 3. Bikkuri Donkey

- Source: The 2015 research of stats-japan.com

BY SHOJI KUDAKA, STRIPES JAPAN

I t can be hard to draw a line between what is a family restaurant and

what is not. One online dic-tionary briefly describes it as a restaurant that families can use casually. Hundreds of res-taurants on Okinawa would match that description. But when it comes to restaurants that truly deserve the nick-name “famiresu,” the list may not be so long. If the definition of the word is chain/franchise restaurants with various menu items for reasonable prices, push-buttons for ordering, and soda fountain system called a “Drink Bar,” the list will likely be as follows:

Café Restaurant Gusto Notes: There are 12 Gusto restau-

rants on Okinawa according to the company’s website. Two of them are on route 58 near Camp Foster and Camp Kinser. Their popular menu item “Cheese-filled hamburger steak” has been often advertised on TV.

• Gusto Chatan near Camp Fos-ter: (Hours 7 - 3 a.m.)

• Gusto Urasoe near Camp Kinser: (Open 24 hours)

Royal Host Notes: Although known as one

of the major family restaurant franchises in Japan, it waited until 2015 to open its first restau-rant on Okinawa. In addition to its signature western-style menu items such as steak, rice omelet, and hamburger, several limited menu items were introduced by using local food such as aguu pork and goya (bitter melon).

• Royal Host Okinawa Rycom mall near Camp Foster: (Weekday Hours 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Holidays 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.

Cowboy Family Notes: Based on a concept that

a cowboy family in Texas treats customers to a home-cooked meal, this family restaurant main-ly serves steak and hamburger cooked with Certified Angus Beef. The Cowboy Family res-taurant in Rycom mall is the only one on Okinawa. Waiters are dressed like cowboys or cowgirls – hats and all.

• Cowboy Family Okinawa Rycom Mall near Camp Foster: (Hours 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.)

Joyfull Notes: There are 10 Joyfull restau-

rants on Okinawa. Most of them are open 24 hours a day except the one in San-A Convention City. A variety of menu items, especially hamburgers are avail-able for reasonable prices.

• Joyfull Ooyama near Camp Fos-ter and MCAS Futenma: (Open 24 hours)

• Joyfull Okinawa Convention City near MCAS Futenma: Hours 9 a.m. – 11 p.m.)

• Joyfull Maehara near MCAS Futenma: (Open 24 hours)

WafuteiNotes: A local chain owned by

San-A. As the name suggests, a variety of Japanese dishes are available. There are many lunch plates with tempura, sushi or sashimi.

• Wafutei Hamby Town near Camp Foster: (Hours 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.)

• Wafutei Okinawa Convention City near MCAS Futenma: (Hours 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.)

Ootoya Notes: A franchise of family res-

taurants that focuses on Japa-nese dishes. Known for many menu items with fish. For rice, cus-tomers can choose from white, five grain, and rice seasoned by brown seaweed.

• Ootoya Ginowa near MCAS

Futenma: (Hours 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.)

• Ootoya Chatan near Camp Fos-ter: (Hours 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.)

• Ootoya Noborikawa near Kade-na Air Base: (Hours 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.)

CapricciosaNotes: A restaurant franchise that

offers casual-style Italian cuisine. Most menu items come in a large size for family-style dining. Party plans are available.

• Capricciosa Chatan Mihama near Camp Foster and Kadena Air Base: (Weekday Hours 11 a.m. – 10:30 p.m., Fri./Sat. Hours 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.)

COCO’SNotes: Known for serving steaks

with heated stone so custom-ers can reheat their meat. Other menu items include hamburger, spaghetti and pizza. “Dorae-mon,” a famous Japanese car-toon character serves as a mas-cot.

• COCO’S Aeon Gushikawa near Awase Communication Facility (Hours 10 – 2 a.m.)

Bikkuri Donkey Notes: Known for its various menu

items with hamburger. The inte-rior of the restaurant has a log cabin look like something from a western movie. Many restaurants are open late, including the one near Camp Foster, which closes at 2 a.m.

• Bikkuri Donkee Hamby Chatan: (hours 11 a.m. – 2 a.m.)

Tomato & OnionNotes: A family restaurant fran-

chise based in Kansai-area. There is only one Tomato & Onion restaurant on Okinawa. Ham-burgers, steaks, and pastas are their main menu items.

• Tomato & Onion Yasuoka Naha: (Open 11 – 1 a.m.)

[email protected]

‘FAMIRESU’ Family restaurants in Land of the Rising Sun

Top family restaurants in Japan

Okinawa eatingFile Photo

Check out popular famiresu near you!

STRIPES JAPANA TA


The Market Basket at Yokosuka Naval Base has just what you need to fuel your body to kick off the day - our “All You Can Eat” Breakfast Buffet! Enjoy a variety of eggs, meats, pastries, waffles, French toast, pancakes, fruits, veggies and more for $9.99 (kids under 6, $5.99). For $1 more, savor our “All You Can Drink” fresh-brewed drip coffee. Chefs from around the globe developed the menu for the buffet and made-to-order options for the entire family. The Market Basket offers a taste of home without the work! Catering and private dining available. Friday Happy Hour specials 5 p.m. - closing.

Breakfast buffet great way to start off day!

For those of you who cherish a Big Mac and crispy fries, the Golden Arches in Misawa is the perfect safe-haven for you! The menu is complete with all your McDonald’s favorites and even a few Japanese twists thrown in, including our tasty Teritama Burgers. Juicy burger, egg and lettuce. Yummy. You can also add thick bacon or cheese. Try our wasabi-flavored Shaka Shaka fries and wash them down with our famous McFizz. These items are for a limited time only, so what are you waiting for? Spring into action!

McDonald’s burgers with a Japanese twist

STRIPES JAPANA TA


A little story aboutJack & Betty hotdogs

Located in Sky Plaza Misawa, Jack & Betty Food Corner offers a variety of tasty hotdogs. Our eight original homemade hotdogs are popular with the military community and all lovers of hotdogs. Our large juicy “dogs” are served on local freshly baked buns, a combo that will leave your mouth watering and your stomach grumbling for more. And if you do have some room left, we recommend our homemade, naturally-flavored and additive-free gelato, the perfect dessert to any of our tasty hotdogs! So, stop by Jack & Betty. We’ll make you feel at home while you chomp on our tasty dogs.

Authentic, juicy & hearty,we are now in Yokosuka

Born in CALIFORNIA OVER 75 YEARS ago, Carl Karch-er had a hot dog cart and a dream. The hot dog cart became CARL’S JR.®, now one of the PREMIER BURGER BRANDS in the world, with over 3,800 RESTAURANTS in over 42 COUNTRIES. We focus on FRESH FOOD made with only PREMIUM QUALITY INGREDIENTS so that you can indulge in our BIG, JUICY BURGERS, HAND-SCOOPED REAL ICE CREAM SHAKES and HAND-BREAD-ED CHICKEN. All while you sit back and relax as WE BRING FOOD TO YOUR TABLE with a smile as warm as the CALIFORNIA SUNSHINE.

STRIPES JAPANA TA


Spring

Summer Autumn

Kusamochi (mugwort rice cake)

Kashiwamochi (bean paste rice-cake

wrapped in a salted oak leaf)

Mizuyokan (Soft adzuki-bean jelly)

Daifuku (soft rice cake filled with

sweet bean jam)

Sakuramochi (bean paste rice-cake wrapped in a salted

cherry leaf)

Kurikinton (sweetened

mixture of boiled and mashed chestnuts)

Ohagi(oval-shaped sweet

made from glutinous rice and covered with

adzuki bean jam)

Popular Wagashi (Mainland)DANGO - A sweet dumpling that comes

in an assortment of colors and is made from cereals and rice. Soy sauce and sweet bean paste are often used to flavor it. Applying sugar to a well-pounded dango can preserve it for long time.

MONAKA - A wafer filled with adzuki bean paste. The paste can be made from sesame seed, chestnuts or rice. Most wafers are sqaure shaped in a square. Monaka is usually served with tea.

SENBEI - A Japanese rice cracker in various shapes, sizes and flavors that are usually baked or grilled, traditionally over charcoal. A typical senbei is flavored with soy sauce and mirin, and wrapped with a layer of seaweed. There also are salt- and sugar-flavored senbei.

YOKAN - The dark-colored sweets are one of the nation’s most popular traditional sweets. Yokan is made from adzuki beans, sugar and agar, a natural gelling agent made from seaweed. Yokan derives from an ancient Chinese recipe for lamb stew. When the dish came to Japan, Zen monks substituted beans for the lamb because they were prohibited from eating meat.

Popular Ryukyu-kashi (Okinawa)

CHINSUKO - An Okinawan cookie that originated during the Ryukyu Dynasty. It is made from wheat flour, sugar, and lard. It is baked until an appealing exudes. Chinsuko is one of the most important traditional sweets on Okinawa.

CHIIRUNKO - Often called “Okinawan kasutera,” Chiirunko is a brightly colored steamed cake topped with a smattering of peanuts that have been dyed red with citrus peels boiled in sugar syrup. The recipe includes plenty of eggs, which were scarce and thus highly prized during the Ryukyu Dyanasty era. It is said that this cake was eaten only by nobility.

SENJUKO - A pretty lotus-shaped cake with pastry on the outside filled with a mixture of sesame and peanut butter and refreshingly fragrant kippan.

HANABO-RU – A cookie made from wheat flour and egg yolk and shaped like a Wisteria flower. This Ryukyu-kashi requires the skilled techniques of an experienced patisserie chef. The Portuguese introduced this sweet to mainland Japan in the 1600s, and later it was introduced to Okinawa. Today this sweet is enjoyed only on Okinawa.

– Masae Arakaki of Arakaki Kashiten

Winter

Zenzai (thick bean-meal soup containing

sugar and rice cakes)

I n the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish and Portuguese introduced Western sweets to Japan. A sponge cake was one of them. The Japanese digested it and remade it their own.

“Kasutera is one of very popular sweets in Japan and it really resembles Western sponge cake,” said Traditional Japanese Sweets Association’s Mitsuo Yabu. “But it is different. While Western sponge are made with baking powder, our ancestors made it by whisking eggs so that bubbles would make holes in the cake when baked.”

Okinawans have their own kasutera called chiirunko. “Different from Kasutera, chiirunko is a steaming sponge cake

with plenty of eggs,” said Masae Arakaki of Okinawa’s traditional Ryukyu sweets shop, Arakaki Kashiten. “Like kasutera, we don’t use

baking powder in chiirunko.” “When the Western food culture was introduced, our ancestors

did not accept them as they were. They modified them.” Yabu said. “I think their spirit is wonderful, and that shaped the core of our sweets, which has been passed down from generation to generation.”

Kasutera – Western sweet or traditional Japanese?

TRADITIONAL JAPANESE SWEETS ASSOCIATION

Wagashi and

four seasons

STRIPES JAPANA TA


The following are some of the most popular and highly-rated wagashi shops.

Kyoufune – Misawa (Aomori Prefecture)

Kyoufune is widely known for its chestnuts sweets. Taste the popular Michinoku Maron, a whole chestnut wrapped in dough and white bean paste.

Open: 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.Location: 3-7-20 Chuo-cho, Misawa City (4-minute walk from

“Chuo Sanchome” bus stop)URL: www.kyofune.jp/For more information: call 0176-53-8111 (Japanese)

Tachikawa Iseya – Tachikawa (Tokyo)

Founded in 1956, Tachikawa Iseya has caught the attention of a wide-range of people with a sweet tooth. Daifuku Mika, Mame-Daifuku and Kuri-Daifuku are customer favorites.

Open: 9 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.Location: 3-17-1 takamatsucho, Tachikawa

City (An 8-minute walk from JR Tachikawa Station)

URL: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1329/A132901/13067034/

For more information: call 042-522-3793

Kikuhodo – Zama (Kanagawa Prefecture)

Since its establishment in 1928, Kikuhodo has offered wagashi made using tasty mineral water and ingredients from Zama City. Odako Monaka and Sake Manju are the most popular items.

Open: Wed - Mon, 9 a.m.- 6:30 p.m.Location: 1-3003-2 Zama, Zama City

(10-minute walk from JR Sobudai-shita Station)

URL: http://0462.net/shop/kikuhodo/For more information: call 046-251-0139

Yamaguchiya – Atsugi (Kanagawa Prefecture)

Since its opening in 1937, Yamaguchiya has focused on producing tasty sweet bean paste. The popular Renzan Monaka, a wafer filled with sweet bean paste is a must.

Open: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.Location: 3-30-9

Nakashinden, Ebina City (5-minute walk from JR Atsugi Station)

URL: www.yamaguchiya.ne.jp/index.html


Aizawa Kashiho – Yokosuka (Kanagawa Prefecture)

Aizawa’s most popular item is shikimando, a crispy wafer filled with coarse sweet bean. Another popular sweet, kaki-no-sato, is a dried persimmon with white bean that is only available between October and February.

Open: 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.Location: 1-51 Higashi Hemi, Yokosuka City

(4-minute walk from Hemi Station of Keikyu-line)

URL: http://yokosuka-aizawa.jp/For more information: call 046-824-4147

Iwamiya – Iwakuni (Yamaguchi Prefecture)

Iwamiya is known for its popular iwami-manju, or steamed buns. They are often sold out by early afternoon, so place an order by phone and then pick it up

Open: Tue - Sat, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.Location: 1-7-22 Imadu-cho, Iwakuni City

(7-minute walk from JR Iwakuni Station’s west exit)

URL: http://tabelog.com/yamaguchi/A3506/A350601/35005871/

For more information: call 0827-22-0235 (Japanese)

Shogetsudo – Sasebo (Nagasaki Prefecture)

Since its foundation in 1905, this shop has offered kasutera famous for its plentiful egg yolk and lam sugar.

Open: Mon - Sat, 9:30 a.m. - 6:15 p.m.

Location: 5-6 Kamikyo-cho, Sasebo City (3-minute walk from JR Sasebo Station)

URL: http://tabelog.com/nagasaki/A4202/A420201/42005633/


Popular wagashi shops near your base

STRIPES JAPANA TA


Documents

A Taste o apan - ePaper - Stripes...abu, to fully enjoy these rice cakes, you should enjoy the faint aroma of cherry or oak leaves first, then remove the leaves just before eating