Regional foods of Japan

One thing I love about Japan is that each region has its own cuisine and speciality foods. Nagano is known for its apples, Kobe for Kobe beef, Matcha in Kyoto, Milk in Hokkaido, Takoyaki in Osaka and Tokyo banana in Tokyo!

We didn’t fully appreciate this on our first couple of trips, but now, we find it really exciting to try the local foods or kyoudo ryouri (きょうどりょうり).

Nagano is known for its apples…

Kobe beef from Kobe which is expensive but absolutely melt in your mouth, delicious!

Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki and Kushikatsu are some of the foods Osaka is famous for.

Sea grapes and purple sweet potato from Okinawa

Sweet Castella Cakes from Nagasaki

Seasonal foods

Japan is very in tune with the changes of the seasons. Different seasons offer different varieties of food and drink. In autumn, chestnuts and pumpkins feature in many foods. In spring everything is cherry blossom flavoured, in winter you have to try a hot chocolate from the vending machines, and in summer it’s kakigori, flavoured shaved ice.

Omiyage

Omiyage is the social obligation of bringing back small gifts from trips for family, friends and work colleagues. Often, this is in the form of beautifully packaged and individually wrapped local specialty sweets and cakes. You will find omiyage at tourist sites, gift stores, train stations and airports. Because they are individually packaged, they are perfect gifts to take home to Australia.

Regional omiyage are ideal for gifts, however for the Aussies back home, the favourites are definitely KitKats, Pocky and Tokyo banana! There are many flavours, some of which are region specific and can only be bought in the region and feature the local foods, for example sweet potato Pocky which is – surprise, surprise – sweet potato flavoured!

Wherever you visit during your trip to Japan, spend some time finding out the local food and give it a try. It’s a fantastic way to experience and understand the culture of the area.