Japan's rice price shock, and the strange autumn after it
A bag of rice doubled in price, then this month the new harvest started selling for less than the old. What happened, and why it's shinmai season to remember.
From a kitchen in Japan
What Japanese people actually eat, and how to eat it too.
Not the restaurant version. The everyday version: what's on the breakfast table, what's in the convenience store, and the small habits nobody explains to visitors.
Now in Japan
Why Japan's convenience stores are selling clothes now
7-Eleven launches a 23-item fashion line, FamilyMart's clothing brand passes ¥20 billion, and the reason is in the food aisle.
Start here
Photo: breakfast table
Home cooking
What a real Japanese breakfast looks like
It's not always fish and rice. Weekdays, weekends, and why toast is more Japanese than you think.
Photo: konbini shelf
Konbini
The Japanese convenience store, explained
Warm bento, oden in winter, and the egg sandwich people fly in for. A walk down every aisle.
Photo: onigiri
Staples
Onigiri: the rice ball that runs Japan
Fillings to try first, how to open the wrapper without tearing the seaweed, and where the good ones are.
Photo: a small dish and a beer, just arrived
Eating out
Otoshi, explained: why an izakaya charges you for a dish you didn't order
It isn't a scam and it isn't free. It's the seat charge, served as food — and the first five minutes of a Japanese pub, in order.
Photo: a bottle of mentsuyu next to the soy sauce
Home cooking
Mentsuyu: the one bottle that runs a Japanese kitchen
What "2x" and "3x" mean, how much to dilute for dipping, soup and simmering, and why the ratio changes. From a licensed cook.
Written at the table, not from a guidebook
Itadakimasu is written by someone who cooks and eats here every day. Every article is checked against what's actually in the kitchen and on the shelves right now.