Grazing a Trail Through the Land of the Rising Sun

Gyoza, Nihonshu & Strawberries

As I was preparing to welcome spring 2010, it dawned on me that this is the third country in as many years that I have seen the transition from winter to spring. Last year, though, was particularly special as I was travelling through Japan. As always when I write, I have many starts and stops. This article marks the first time that I have ever written anything about the trip, apart from status updates on Facebook. And, aside from rushed preparations for a presentation on sake last year, it was the first time I went through the two books of notes and thousands of photos. What an amazing trip. How fortunate was I to have been able to take a month off and do so many amazing things, meet so many amazing people and eat so much amazing food. And just how do I organize four weeks, two books and about four thousand photos into something easy to read and yet also transmit even a fraction of what I took with me? Hopefully I’ve figured it out…

The trip became possible when I was invited by a friend/New York sake importer. He takes his sales team and various representatives from other states to visit his brewers every year and had long ago invited me. This time, I was finally able to go. His trip was for one week but I decided that if I was going to go all that way, I had better make the most of it and take a full month off!

I did little to prepare for my trip apart from the requisite travel plans: plane tickets, accommodation bookings, Japan Rail pass (indispensable and fantastic deal). I did buy a travel book, but didn’t have the time to read it. I also took Japanese lessons. I certainly wasn’t fluent by the time I got there, but I could order food, tell people what I did for a living, and ask directions and train information. Given that very few people speak other languages there (as a person that speaks three languages, it was very frustrating), these lessons sure made things move a lot smoother. I hate not being able to communicate – so much gets missed.

TOKYO
As timing would have it, the chefs from the restaurant where I worked at the time (Mugaritz) were also going to Japan for the Tokyo Taste Culinary Congress. This was an event organized by Hattori-san (Yukio Hattori of Hattori Nutritional College – note: Hattori-san is widely credited with raising the standard of culinary education in Japan and for bringing international cuisine to the country. Mention his name to just about anyone in the world of food and wine and they bow in reverence. He also was the first commentator of the Japanese Iron Chef), a great friend of our restaurant. I arrived on the second day of the event and after 30 minutes of navigating my way out of Tokyo Station (jetlag had finally set in) and to my hotel, I made it to the show to see various presentations and meet up with the team.

Japanese hospitality and generosity is unparalleled. For the next three days, I accompanied the team (and other Tokyo Taste guests) to dinners and tours. Two fantastic and memorable meals were among those outings: In Tokyo, at Mibu (an eight-seat private club run by Ishida-san and his wife, dining by invitation only) and Kicho in Kyoto. Both are masters in kaiseki, or Japanese-style tasting menu. Both experiences had stories to tell through the food. There is not a thing that I can say, nor photo that I can show that can possibly give you even a hint of how emotive these meals were.

^ menu from Mibu

KYOTO
We all moved to Kyoto on my third day. I stayed in my humble room (futon on the floor with traditional buckwheat husk pillow and blanket) at the Shunkoin Zen Buddhist Temple, located in the Myoshinji Temple grounds. This was a suggestion made to me by a winemaker friend. It is simple and so perfectly lovely. I wouldn’t have wanted to stay anywhere else. By contrast, the Tokyo Taste gang stayed at Tawaraya Ryokan , one of the oldest – and most luxurious – ryokan (Japanese guesthouse) in Kyoto. Admittedly, I was a little envious, but I was still happy to be among the monks. We went to Kicho the first day and then finished with a sencha ceremony (as opposed to the traditional Chanoyu ceremony that surrounds green tea, this ceremony, while still meant to be contemplative, is more relaxed and a sense of humour is welcomed).

A side note on strawberries: The time of year was February and strawberries were “in season.” They weren’t in season as in – they were being grown (naturally) and went to market. They were in season in the sense of everyone eats strawberries in February. I couldn’t get an answer as to why. Perhaps it was something to do with Valentine’s Day? At Kicho, we were all served two strawberries, grown (in greenhouses) in different areas of Japan. They both tasted totally different from one another and were probably the best strawberries that I had ever tasted (that is, until I thought about where they came from and got creeped out about it).

The next day, we strolled through Nishiki market. I think we were there for three hours, at least! In the group were chefs from Mugaritz, the Fat Duck and alinea and their teams and we were accompanied by Setsuko-san (basically Hattori’s right-hand woman) and Akiko – our interpreter (and my Japanese teacher). Kyle from the FD also spoke fluent Japanese, having lived and worked in Japan for a number of years. It was probably the single, most fantastic market walk I have ever experienced: Japan market = amazing food with some of the world’s most talented chefs: priceless. Lunch was quick, but definitely not light:

^ Killer lunch at Nishiki market

Then there was Yoram’s sake bar, where I went with RR. She is a journalist with el Pais who was also on the Tokyo Taste junket, but while the gang split up, she stayed one more night before returning to Spain. Yoram is an Israeli expat who opened this small sake bar. By day, it is a soba noodle joint (different owner), by night, sake bar. We tasted 14 amazing sakes old and young, pasteurized and not. It was a great prep “class” for my upcoming sake travels.

So after a few days of being coddled and offered translations at every moment, I was left on my own for a few weeks until I met up with Henry and his sake gang. The rest of my time in Kyoto was just spent doing what I do best: wandering. I visited at least three other temples, meditated a lot (I was in a Zen temple, after all), ate lots of ice cream and lots of mochi and, of course, ate a lot of raw fish. [Note: Up until I had parted ways with the Mugaritz gang, we had been eating plenty of “different” items including fugu and fugu sperm. I enjoyed it all, but I’ll just leave it at that.] At one point, walking from Ryoanji Temple, I wondered if I could ever again find this kind of joy that I felt – of discovery, of self-reflection, of excitement, of wonder. I am happy with my life, but I still remember that moment of pure, pure joy.

It was the season of cherry blossoms and while I am not much into flowers (at least, not to the extent of taking photos of them), never in my life have I ever taken so many shots of flowers – close-up, far away, groups, trees I look at them now and I almost want to delete them. Except that looking at all those photos reminds me of being surrounded by pink and white, breathing in the crisp, fresh air, the hushed sounds of people walking around and whispering to each other and the amazing aroma of the blossoms. At, Kitano Tenmangu temple, there were cherry blossoms and the more fragrant plum blossoms.I should mention that I did enjoy a meditation class with the Vice Abbott, Takafumi Kawakami.  He went to university in the US, so his English explanations were perfect.  We were a small group of travelers that, by chance, met up in the centre of Kyoto later that night.  We went to dinner at a restaurant suggested to us by Taka-san.  One of the travelers gave me the number of the woman that became my shiatsu therapist back in San Sebastian.  Yes, the world is small and wonderful and it’s great to get out and about from time to time!

OSAKA
Whirlwind stop.  I came here because another winemaker friend suggested that I connect with his friends Yukiko and Yusuke at their wine bar, Aso Vin Bar.  Again, I was shown that Japanese hospitality has no end.  They hooked me up with a sweet hotel room (sweeping views of Osaka at the price of just a little more than the Kyoto temple) and never let me rest the whole 48 hours that I was there.  I ate twice at their restaurant.  And the food is the MOST important thing there.  Yukiko is the chef and she offers up traditional food and Yusuke, her husband, chooses the wines and makes the great iced tea.  The place is small – maybe 20 seats, tops.  Here is a sample of what I ate: (she called it her version of “ratatouille.”  It had lotus root, onion, tomato, eggplant and shichimi, or togorashi.)

~ Linda Violago