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64 In the Country

Cities around Fukuoka

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Cities around Nagoya

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Cities around Hiroshima

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Cities around Sendai and

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Food

Japan’s cities have restaurants specialising in everything from poisonous fish to American pizza. Still, Japanese and Chinese rice and noodle dishes are the norm. Many ‘Japanised’ western foods such as the ubiąuitous ‘mixed sandwich’ (sorry, no substitutions) are available.

Many inexpensive traditional restaurants display a short, slitted curtain, or noren, over the doorway to announce to passers-by that they are open and ready to receive customers. If the noren is tucked inside or rolled-up, the restaurant is closed.

A taste of Japan reąuires a visit to a soba-ya, or noodle shop. Sararimen (businessmen) and OL’s (office ladies) rush into these eateries at lunch time and slurp hot or cold noodles and soup before rushing back to work. The most popular seems to be the sąuare brownish buckwheat noodles that are called sobą (o-soba by women). Round yellow Chinese noodles are also popular. It’s acceptable to slurp noodles.

Beware of restaurants that look like private homes. These ryoriya can be phenomenally expensive, but can provide you with a look at traditional high-class dining. Diners don’t have a choice of foods - you must accept whatever the specialty of the day is.

Using kudasai is a polite way to ask for things, and can be translated as ‘please give me’. ‘Please’ and ‘thank you’ are always in order in Japan. If you are the guest at a meal, say itadakimasu (I will partake) before starting to eat.

Even without a guidebook you can enjoy the many

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