Meshiagare! Flavors of Japan

Discover Japan's unique dishes, its foodie culture, its diverse landscape of ingredients, and the makers behind it all

In collaboration with Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

and 19 more collections

Every recipe has a history

A Bitesize History of Japanese Food

Explore a bento box of amazing facts about Japan's iconic cuisine

How the Edo Period Gave Japanese Food its Flavor

The taste that the “Edo-kko” loved

A historic tour

A Taste of Tokyo's Historic Golden Gai District

Behind the bars of the Shinjuku Golden Street

Rediscovering historical cuisine

Tracing the Tastebuds of the Past

How Food Nippon is recreating Edo food today

Know your basics

Decoding iconic dishes

Sushi

Japan's most recognizable dish

Bento

Artfully arranged and perfectly balanced lunch boxes

Ramen

The roots of ramen

Wagashi

Traditional sweets that tell a story

Tea

The background of Uji-cha green tea

Sake

How traditional rice wine is made

Pick up your chopsticks

Meshiagare! 8 Phrases That Explain Japanese Food Culture

What to say before you dig in

How sushi rolled

The origin story of an iconic dish

Before There Was Sushi, There Was Narezushi

A dish of fish preserved for several months to several years in salt and rice

The Evolution of Sushi

From narezushi to edo-mae

Eat like the ancestors

Take a guided tour of seasonal food scenes in ukiyo-e from the Edo period

Feast on Fish in Spring

Sashimi, soy sauce, sushi and sake

Enjoy Eel in Summer

Eels, watermelon and rice flour dumplings

Slurp Soba in Autumn

Soba noodles, soy, and seaweed

Munch Mochi in Winter

Mochi, daikon, and glutinous rice

5 Funny Ukiyo-e Prints That Show the Food Culture of Tokyo

Look back at the Meiji Period... and have a laugh

When food meets manga

8 Mangas That Will Make You Feel Hungry

Japanese cuisine from sake, to Ainu food culture, to home taste

Laying the table

It's not just what you eat, it's how you eat it

Exploring Japanese Tableware Piece by Piece

Learn how to lay a table

The craftmanship

The Chopsticks That Take 6 Months to Make

Each is a one-of-a-kind creation

Traditional lacquerware method

Developed around Wajima

Knives

The blade of a professional sushi Chef’s knives must be re-sharpened every day

Traditional Kettles

Nanbutekki Kettles

Asahi Ware

A ceramic kiln begun during the Keichō era

Miyajima Osuna Ware

Magical ceramics

Mino ware

A site of ceramic production for centuries

White Satsuma Ware

400 years of tradition and innovations

Discover more about the history and culture of Japanese food

The traditions and their evolution

Explore the first course

What makes Japanese food so unique?

How Japan discovered a new taste

What is Umami?

The fifth taste that adds maximum flavor

Round the world

Umami Culture in the World

The history of seasoning

Deceptively simple

The Invisible Ingredient You'll Find Everywhere

The secret magic of dashi and umami

In 1908, Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda discovered that there was a fifth taste called umami

The art of Japanese tea

Even tea is umami...

The Guide to the Perfect Brew

Infuse your mind with Uji-cha

Turning Tea Practises Upside Down

A visit to a very unusual tea plantation

Inside a traditional Japanese tea ceremony: Koicha (thick tea)

Inside a traditional Japanese tea ceremony: Usucha (thin tea)

For goodness saké

Sip on the story of how Japanese rice wine is made

Matsui Sake Brewery

The Oldest Sake Brewery in Kyoto

Where tradition meets innovation

Watch How Sake is Made

Inside Kyoto's Sasaki Sake Brewery

Just desserts

Mouth-watering Japanese sweets

How Wagashi Reflect The Seasons

What are Higashi?

The Names of Wagashi, Explained

Seasonal sweets

Springtime Wagashi

How cherry blossoms are expressed in the world of Japanese confectioneries

flavored dumplings

The Traditional Sweets of Niigata

A visit to a sasadango factory

The methods behind the meals

The intricate steps in Japanese cooking - try them if you dare

How to

How to Make Ball-Shaped Sushi

The Quintessential Recipes of Wakasa

How to

How to Make Dashi

The secret to that umami flavor

How to

How to Make Sanuki Udon

Three ingredients and some foot work

How to build a bento

Opening a lunchbox has never been so satisfying

What is Bento?

The art of food in a small box

Shokado Bento

Based on a traditional Japanese multi-course dinner

Shidashi

Colorfully arranged side dishes

Uni (Sea Urchin) Bento

The speciality of Kuji station

Discover more about the unique taste of Japanese dishes

The unique flavors of sushi, bento, udon and more

Explore the second course

The geography of ingredients

How Japan's varied geography leads to a range of flavors

How Environmental Challenges Led To Some of the Tastiest Rice Around

The evolution of Niigata rice

The Salt Capital of Japan

The 300 year old tradition of Utazu’s Irihama-shiki salt-making

Why Fishing is So Important in Japanese Cuisine

Life by the Arakawa River

The Art of Preparing Mountain Vegetables

Mountain vegetable preservation technology developed through the “No Waste Policy”

So long and thanks for all the fish

The story of Tsukiji fish market's move to Toyosu

Tour the Toyosu Fish Market

Explore the newly opened Toyosu fish market getting ready for the auction

The Tumultuous History of Tsukiji Market

The hidden backstory of a familiar fish market

A Day at The World's Largest Fish Market

How 1,400 tons of fish gets auctioned every day

Why fresh is best

How fresh river water leads to high quality cuisine

The Perfect Environment for Sake Brewing

Why Chichibu is known as the "sake brewing town"

Freshwater Fish Cuisines in Daily Life

Life by the Arakawa River

How food creates connections

Gender Equality in the Future of Farming

The story a group of farmer's wives bringing a community together

Highlights of Hiroshima

Discover the delicacies of the prefecture

The Surprising Foods Made From Onomichi’s Setoda Lemon

From salt-pickled lemons to lemon pizza

The Teppan-yaki Culture of a Ship-making City

The famous onomichi okonomiyaki with fried squid and gizzards

Onomichi Vinegar Culture

Inside Japan's oldest vinegar distillery

Onomichi Port City’s Food Culture of the Past and Present

Its culinary traditions and modern food trends

The Feminist Vegan Chocolate Makers

Meet the women behind Foo Chocolatiers

The art of agriculture

Meet the farmers doing things differently

How One Dairy Farm Kicked The Usage of Antibiotics and Growth Hormones

Meet the owner of Oak Leaf Ranch

Learning, Not Copying: Cheese with a Taste of Japan

Making cheese the small-scale way

A Red Drop of Challenge

The secrets of fine wine from Tokachi

Discover more about the ingredients at the heart of Japanese cuisine

The building blocks of Japanese food and where they come from

Explore the third course

Because there's more to food than eating

Explore the culture and history in every meal

The Culture

The traditions and their evolution

The Taste

The unique flavors of sushi, bento, udon and more

The Ingredients

The building blocks of Japanese food and where they come from

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