Arashiyama 嵐山 is on the western outskirts of Kyoto. While it is famous for its bamboo grove, this picturesque area has much more to offer visitors. Here are some places where you can escape the crowds when in Arashiyama.
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Opened in the 19th century, Mamemasa 豆政 in Kyoto specialises in tasty roasted nuts coated in sweet and savoury flavours.
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One could not go hungry in Obihiro with its wide and quality selection of shops and restaurants specialising in confectionary and local dishes including the popular butadon 豚丼 (grilled pork served over a bowl of rice).
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Oden Miyuki Honten serves up delicious oden from large vats of simmering dashi stock. Perfect food for cold, wet days in Kanazawa, Japan.
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Make some tasty karaage at home with this easy-to-follow recipe
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On my return trip to Otaru, aside from sushi, there was one item that I looked forward to eating again: Senbei 煎餅, Japanese rice cracker. Three summers ago, when I was in Otaru with my family, we bought some senbei from a little shop while strolling along Sakaimachi Street. Everyone in my family likes senbei.…
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Otaru has around 100 sushi restaurants, including some 20 on the famed Sushi Street, which is five minutes on foot from where we were staying. As much as we like sushi, we were in the mood for a variety of small hot dishes – specifically, we wanted to eat at an izakaya. We decided to…
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It was summer but the skies were grey and the wind gave me goosebumps under my jacket. We had arrived at the entrance of the ramen shop. Sliding the door open, we stepped inside. The air was thick with humidity, a warm welcome and respite from Sapporo’s chilly streets. It was only 5pm but the…
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“The place I like best in the world is the kitchen,” declares a youthful Mikage Sakurai at the beginning of “Kitchen“. Written by Banana Yoshimoto*, Kitchen quickly become a bestseller when it was published in 1988. Yoshimoto also received some of Japan’s top literary prizes with her first book, further fanning the “Bananamania” in the country. Having recently read Kitchen –…
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