Japanese Food and Drink – Page 2

Fukuoka & Beppu ー Great Food, Relaxing Onsen

July 17, 2018August 29, 2018FAQ, Food and Drink, Nature, Traditional Culture/Spots2 Comments

Today, we’re going to introduce Fukuoka and Beppu, which are both on the island of Kyushu.

Fukuoka

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Getting there:

Fukuoka is a prefecture in Kyushu, and Fukuoka City is the largest city in Kyushu and has a good mixture of both traditional and modern culture.

To travel from Hawaii to Fukuoka, Hawaiian Airlines cancelled their non-stop flight from Honolulu to Fukuoka, so we recommend flying into Kansai International Airport (Osaka), and then taking a shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Hakata Station, which is about a 3-hour train ride. If you are landing in Tokyo and then going to Fukuoka or plan to go to Tokyo from Fukuoka, taking a shinkansen will take about 6 hours from Shinagawa Station and Tokyo Station. Flights from Haneda to Fukuoka take a little less than 2 hours. If you want to fully utilize your JR Pass to save money, taking a shinkansen is the way to go. Also, because of travel time, combining Fukuoka and Osaka into the same trip will maximize your travel experience.

Important Note: The main station in Fukuoka is NOT Fukuoka Station; the main station is Hakata Station.

Ramen

Hakata Ramen is the local-style of ramen in Fukuoka. The soup broth is made from pork bones which gives it a brown-yellow coloration. The broth is rich and will cling on to noodles well.

When ordering Hakata Ramen, you can choose the firmness of your noodles. Generally, there’s 5 levels: extra soft, soft, regular, firm, extra firm. Extra soft noodles will break easily, so we don’t recommend getting extra soft noodles. Soft noodles don’t break as easily, blend with the broth, and will kind of dissolve in your mouth. Regular noddles are good for those who haven’t eaten too much authentic ramen before. So, start at regular, and then test out other types of noodles to find your zone. Firm noodles tend not to blend too much with the broth, but you can enjoy both the flavor of the broth and the flavor of the noodles. Extra firm noodles are for those who know how to slurp up noodles and like to taste the rich broth “crisply”.

If you are a foodie, you have to check out the yatai (street vendors) of Hakata!

Our personal to-do list:

Places we haven’t been to but want to go to include: Futamigaura and Kawachi Wisteria Garden. Also, because Fukuoka is located on the Sea of Japan side of Kyushu, sunsets are amazing along the coastline.

Beppu

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Beppu is located in Oita Prefecture and is one of the best areas for onsen (hot springs). Each onsen has different medicinal benefits from nicer skin to a recuperating from fatigue. Not to mention, each ryokan (Japanese-style inn) will include a Japanese-style meal.

Beppu stretches from the sea to the mountains, like an ahupua’a here in Hawaii, so there are a lot of different kinds of delicious food to eat: from different types of meat dishes to seafood.

If you’re traveling to the Kansai Area and have more than 7 days, checking out Fukuoka for a few days and Beppu for a night can fit into your schedule. If you just want to travel around Kyushu, at least a week (preferably 10 days) would be needed to visit all of the prefectures there: Fukuoka, Oita, Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Kagoshima, Shiga, Nagasaki.

Kanpai!!! Drinking Culture in Japan

May 29, 2018July 27, 2018Food and DrinkLeave a Comment

It’s Chad again!

Kanpai is usually translated as “cheers” or “bottoms up” but literally means “dry glass”. Every culture has its own drinking culture, so in this post, we are going introduce a few aspects of the drinking culture in Japan.

Pau Hana Drinks

Japanese society is not only infamous for its work-work-work culture, but also its drink-a-ton-of-alcohol-after-work culture. When I was working in Tokyo, I used to work 12-hour days, drink until the early morning hours, take a short nap, and then do it all over again. The picture on the left is of a drinking area (street) called Omoide-yokocho (思い出横丁, Memory Lane), and I used to come here for my second or third round of drinks with colleagues. There are yokochos all over Japan, and these streets are full of bars and restaurants to drink at. The picture on the right is of a standing wine bar, which serves beer, cocktails, and pupus. Standing bars are good when you want to have a few drinks before going to your next place.

Beer Tasting & Pupus

Japanese people love their beer! You can go to beer museums for short tours and beer tasting after the tours, like Brandon did (picture on the left). The merit of going to a beer museum is that you can try beers which aren’t sold in stores, and the price to sample is reasonable! However, unlike the Sapporo Beer Museum (picture on the left) where you can get three beers at once, other beer museums require you to finish one drink before you order your next one.

The picture on the right is of pan-fried gyoza with beer (of course!). Japanese food/drinking culture is similar to Hawaii because people in Japan like to pupu while having a cold beer, or whatever drink they like. This picture was taken by Brandon at a festival in Sapporo. For those who don’t know, festivals in Japan have many vendors which sell drinks and food. The best thing to do at festivals when you want food or a drink is to take a quick lap around the area, and then decide where to buy your food (not all at once though!).

Drinking in Public

Drinking in public is not illegal, unless certain areas (usually parks) have signs which prohibit drinking alcohol or you are belligerent and making trouble. During the summer, people like to drink at the beach (picture on the left), and during spring, people love drinking under the sakura (picture on the right).

Why Japan Is THE Travel Destination from Hawaii

May 21, 2018May 22, 2018FAQ, Food and Drink, Modern Culture/Spots, Nature, Shopping, Traditional Culture/SpotsLeave a Comment

1. Reasonable Overall Cost

The first thing you would have to do is buy your ticket to Japan. It goes without saying that ticket prices vary depending on which season you want to visit Japan. For example, if you want to enjoy the sakura or autumn foliage, these are the most expensive seasons to visit Japan, so you will have to pay a premium. In recent years, the average price for tickets to Japan for one person is about $1000 roundtrip.

The next thing you need to take into consideration is the currency exchange rate. Luckily, the Japanese Yen has been weaker than the U.S. dollar. If you have already planned a trip to Japan and haven’t exchanged dollars to yen, keep an eye out on the exchange rate!

Topics related to cost of transportation, food and drink, and shopping will be briefly explained below.

2. Best Public Transportation System in the World

Can you believe that train companies apologize for being 1 minute late?! That is how punctual the train system is in Japan. Not to mention busses connect areas which do not have trains, and these busses run close to their scheduled times even in traffic.

For locals in Japan, costs on public transportation is a little expensive compared to other countries in Asia, but as a visitor to Japan, you can purchase a JR Rail Pass which gives you access to almost all Shinkansen (Bullet Trains) and all local JR Lines. Using the JR Rail Pass and other available rail passes will be explained in detail in a future blog post.

3. Awesome Food and Drink

In Hawaii, our food portions are ridiculously big compared to the portions in Japan, BUT the quality of the food Japan is hard to beat. Also, you can eat quality food at a reasonable price if you look in the right places.

Fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, desserts, Japan has it all for you foodies! If you like to drink wine, whiskey, beer, Japanese sake, Japan has great choices for alcoholic beverages.

4. Fusion of Traditional Culture and Modern Culture

From temples, shrines, and castles to skyscrapers and crazy fashion trends, Japan is a mixture of traditional culture and modern culture.

5. Shopping

For those who like high-end brands, there are areas in Japan, such as Ginza in Tokyo, which have streets lined with these stores. If you are on a tight budget but want to get a bunch of omiyage for your family, friends, and colleagues, you can head over to Daiso to buy things priced at only 100 yen!

6. Nature

Japan is surrounded by the ocean, just like Hawaii, and mountains cover about 70% of the land; so, depending on the season you visit Japan, you can have different experiences outdoors.

In future blog posts, we will explain in detail various aspects of traveling in Japan. Stay tuned for more pictures and blog posts in the future! We’re still developing our content, but also check out our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Mahalo!!!