Japan is worth the trip for the food alone. From ramen to udon, here are the dishes to seek out across Japan.
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Ramen
Steaming bowls of ramen served with a glass of cold beer make for the quintessential Japanese comfort meal. Every region puts its own spin on the broth, from rich tonkotsu pork to lighter shoyu and miso varieties.
Though now quintessentially Japanese, ramen arrived from China around the turn of the 20th century and exploded after WWII, when imported wheat was plentiful. Regional styles are fiercely local — Sapporo miso, Hakata tonkotsu, Tokyo shoyu — and a great bowl is judged on its broth above all.
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Tonkatsu with Japanese curry
A crisp panko-breaded pork cutlet served with a ladle of rich, savory Japanese curry over rice. Katsu curry is hearty comfort food found in casual diners across Japan.
Tonkatsu (a panko-breaded pork cutlet) and Japanese curry are both yōshoku — Western dishes adapted during the Meiji era's opening to the world. Curry came via the British Royal Navy; put the two together over rice and you get katsu curry, one of Japan's great comfort foods.
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Teishoku set meal
A teishoku is a balanced Japanese set meal built around rice, miso soup and a selection of small side dishes such as sashimi and pickles. It offers a perfect way to sample several local flavors in a single sitting.
A teishoku is a balanced set meal built on the traditional ichijū-sansai principle — one soup, three sides, plus rice — that has shaped Japanese home cooking for centuries. It remains the everyday lunch of choice: nutritionally complete, seasonal and endlessly varied.
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Udon
A bowl of udon — thick, chewy wheat-flour noodles in a light dashi broth, often topped with spring onion. Comforting and mild, it's a Japanese staple eaten year-round.
Thick, chewy udon is one of Japan's oldest noodles, likely introduced from China more than a thousand years ago. Sanuki udon from Kagawa is the most celebrated regional style; served hot in dashi or cold with a dipping sauce, it's humble, cheap and deeply loved.
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Takoyaki
Golf ball-sized orbs of batter and diced octopus, griddled in a special cast-iron pan until the outside turns crisp and the inside stays molten, then finished with a sweet-savory sauce, mayonnaise, dried bonito flakes and a dusting of aonori seaweed. Osaka's defining street food, sold from stalls throughout the city.
Takoyaki was invented in Osaka in 1935 by a street vendor who adapted an earlier, octopus-free snack into the version sold across Japan today. The name literally means 'grilled octopus,' and a proper batch is turned constantly with a pair of thin picks so each ball cooks into a sphere with a soft, almost liquid center.
