Japan Archives - Page 2 of 3

Kumano Kodo: finding the ethereal spirit in the Japanese forest

Animist, buddhist and shintoist confluence of peaceful coexistence is awakened on the Kii peninsula of Japan. For more than a millennium, ancient pilgrimage routes have, like ropes of hope, connected the moist and verdant mountain peaks in the Yoshino-Kumano National Park. The most famous from the ‘lucky’ seven Kumano trails that originated in the 10th century are the Buddhist Koyasan and the Shinto Kumano Kodo, of which the Nakahechi trail is the most sacred. The later is also more visited by the Japanese due to its higher cultural value today.

Reverence of nature in Japanese culture

Here, in the southernmost crest of Honshu, the largest of Japan’s islands, the spirit of the forest has for countless generations attracted not just nobility, but all social levels, religious sects, and also including women. The rigidity of Japanese rules contradict the spiritual flexibility in the quest for worship. The first imperial capital, Nara, sealed the proximity of the mundane beauty of the forests appreciated by the entire society in Japan. The second and longest imperial seat – Kyoto, remains within a walkable distance (months) to he grand shrines of Kumano. NATURE is GOD in the shinto belief system. Shinrin Yoku or bathing in the forest is a spiritual retreat in solitude. Walking mindfully has been considered therapeutical even by the Japanese Government since the early 1980s. As much as two thirds of the islands are covered with dense, mossy, tourmaline forests.

Staying at ryokans is the ultimate weekend escape for the Japanese city dwellers. Like maternal love, nature has umbilically nourished humanity, and the Japanese appreciate this nurturing relationship. The humble, traditional inns nest in their natural environment almost invisibly – as if their habitable wooden skeletons were not to disrupt the organic waves of solitude. Alongside the Kumano Kodo there are hundreds of ryokans and onsens (hot springs), some public so you can jump in for a small fee even when not staying overnight.

I lodged hours away at the contemporary luxurious magnification of the discreet ryokan. Northeast from Kumano Kodo the Amanemu opened recently on the Ise Shima National Park grounds by the meta-sensual Aman group. The distance allowed for only a full day trip, so with a generous bento box I embarked on the locally most revered pilgrimage, the so-called Kumano Sanzan. This most visited route on the Nakahechi trail is abundantly scenic as all of the three grand shrines nest in these valleys nearing the Pacific. My guide Kimi, born in Kumano, took me through a less frequented section at first – snooping into the rural dwellings, tea gardens, persimmon and ume plum orchards, my kind of a hike! I’m a spy of an authentic local life when I travel, therefore connecting the spirit of the beastly forest with the frugal life of the mountain people stirred a nirvana in my childishly curious mind. What a learned though was sad, the by the city magnetised youth became disenchanted by the slow but longevity promising life of the countryside so increasingly many of the charming dwellings were abandoned.

Japanese tea garden

Named after the mighty Kumano River, once flooding the mountainous valley with its spring swell of melted snow, a namesake city by the seaside rose up with the pilgrims pouring in. Like in my native Czech Republic, the river’s name changes as it curves through the different valleys and villages. We curved along and then towards the Yuya-gawa River swelling away from the Hongu Taisha. About four to seven hours curvy coastal drive from Kyoto, ages past only horses and your feet could trot the sacred mountains of the Kii Peninsula. Kodo means pilgrimage or a spiritual trail, and today the unmotorised passage is in some way the leftover of the ages long gone. There are countless “kodos” in Japan, with an overstretched history reaching past thousands of years, but Kumano Kodo is the essence of Japanism. All the grand emperors wandered up, around and down the ghastly mountain passes, some trumping their fit predecessors crossing with their comfort ensuring suite the entire trail dozen times. Their phenomenal accomplishments, battered with frequent rain spells, were engraved in the honourable stone tablet facing the colourfully restored trio of buildings at the Kumano Hayatama Taisha shrine. Three milestones mark the end of the weeks lasting pilgrimage – the three Shinto shrines: Kumano Hongu Taisha, Hayatama Taisha and Nachi Taisha (known for the tallest waterfall in Japan – Nachi-no-Otaki drops down from 133 meters). I have explored two of them, one deep inland, the other near the Pacific ocean, keeping the more easily accessible waterfall in the shroud of mystery to motivate me coming back.

Split in two, our seven kilometres long walk embarked from a verdant hamlet to the Kumano Kodo Hongu Taisha, then a car cut our journey to the Pacific side Hayatama Taisha where we just reverently wandered around the colourful shrines. It was late April, Wednesday, yet the midweek pilgrims mushroomed on the trails. The foreigners (mostly Australians) were hiking in the forest, while the Japanese on buses and in cars parked themselves right in front of the saintly shrines, bowing, clapping and bowing again, purchasing good luck amulets and taking group photos. More than the usual shrine traffic, the forest rewarded the mind with a spiritual boost, caressing your thoughts with a flow of gentle strokes, allowing thus for a deeper insight into one’s life. I began to identify with the ‘nature is God’ religion of the Japanese. Trotting through the bamboo groves and the spring spikes of their young shoots, the refreshing and sturdy sugi cedar forests, spotting the lower than me fiddlehead ferns, seahorse curled zenmai and the fens of the ostrich fern kogomi, mugwort known locally as yomogi, the unfamiliar cute nomenclature of the Japanese flora that sounds so exotic in restaurants (especially in the laborious kaiseki meal) softened up on me, settling like a butterfly friendly in my memory as the origin met the product served to me by nature.

Yet the Japanese today have a love hate relationship with the oldest sugi tree survivor. Cryptomeria japonica, often called Japanese cedar in English, triggers an annual allergy epidemic throughout the country. In spring, the pollen tickles the sinuses of a fifth of the population. As my first visit of spring Japan revealed, sneezing and watery eyes penetrate the densely populated cities. The hay fever, known as kafunshō, troubles the new generations so much that new pollen-free species replant the predecessors. In 2007, Toyama Prefecture’s Forestry Research Institute christened the first of the engineered species Haruyokoi, which means welcome, spring. The over two millennia old (some scientist believe as much as 5000 years old!) jomon sugi on Kyushu are designated as UNESCO World Heritage together with the younger, millennials only, yaku sugi. Trees, the lungs of the green Planet, like the cedar forests in Lebanon, they survived wars, centuries, and now the changing climate commiserated by our convenient activities, are not having their greatest moment on Earth. In his best-selling book The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohllleben (his surname means “living entirely, wholesomely”) suggests the communication and the feelings shared between trees in a native, wild forest, trekking the Kumano Kodo offers to any sensitive human an opportunity to listen, to participate in this talk of trees. Then, perhaps, your relationship with them and the entire cycle of nature will change for ever.

Japanese Cedar trees knows as sugi

The ethereal spirit in the Japanese forest offers itself freely with each straddle of your urbanised feet. The sacred is found in nature, and shintoism is a folklore, the core of the Japanese culture. The divine “kami” gushes through the veins of / surrounds you in trees, rivers, waterfalls, boulders, animals and certain holy places. Kumano Kodo hives countless kami in its vast precinct, and you recognise them by shimenawa, a rope twisted around their usually vast circumference. Jizo, a stone carved boddhisatva dressed in a mossy coat, often with a red bib, guards your journey. You do not just get lost, but if you pray or leave him some gift (5 yen secures good relationships), it protects children and travellers, and is tended mostly by women who lost their child. There are treacherous pests in the nature here to be shielded from. Venomous snakes like the Mamushi or the aggressive Suzumebachi hornet like demons can usurp your life. The smart wiki warns that it is “more painful to humans than typical wasp stings because hornet venom contains a large amount (5%) of acetylcholine”. For some their sting can be deadly, so checking the first aid instructions ahead and call 119 for multi-lingual assistance in the case of emergency.

As a symbolic act of inner purification in the Shinto philosophy, all sacred places are heralded with an addendum of a washing basin or a well. Wooden or tin ladles gather the living essence of nature to clean one’s mouth, then both hands (left first) ending with the rinse of the holder with respect to others. Japanese ceramic cups as a courtesy to fellow trekkers nest nearby the wells with drinking water. Alongside the Kumano Kodo hundreds of such washing rituals take place as you wander past the soon familiar statuettes of Jizo. Goohoin, an evil warding amulet also known as Goshimu that keeps you safe, you hope. The shrines and historically significant spots like the Fushiogami-oji view that rewards the pilgrim with the first glimpse of Kumano Hongu Taisha shrine. Here, pilgrims fall on their knees and pray, well they did, as now it is more photographing and posting online by the foreign visitors who boost their achievements in an instant. This verdant hilltop is where a legendary female poet, Izumi Shikibu, who walked the Kumano Kodo trail, got her period prior to entering the shrine, distressed she wrote a poem about her curse of impurity.

Beneath unclear skies,

my body obscured by drifting clouds,

I am saddened that

my monthly obstruction has begun.

The tale ends happily as the Kumano deity appeared and allowed her entering “impure”, in replying: How could the god who mingles with the dust suffer because of your monthly obstruction?

There is a legend about almost any boulder, notable tree or view point. Kumano Kodo is welcoming to any open soul as well as to the plainly curious traveler. Honesty stands offer food for a small fee, shaded from the sun and the frequent rain spells. Replenish your bodily energy with local honey, oranges, tangerines, nuts, pickled umeboshi plums, and other seasonal bounty. I wondered how anyone can make money from this, and my guide responded with a chuckle, widening her narrow eyes. This is Japan, hardly anyone would steal or not pay the exact amount. In contrast, high moral values do not necessarily apply to eco-consciousness since almost every edible item for sale was sealed in plastic, the environmental plague that has haunted the overtly sanitary Japan for decades.

Compact tea plantations surround the inhabited settlements. Most of the green and whitish tips are for family use only, but some of these precious high mountain teas are commercially sold and offered at the tea houses along the route. We lingered with an elderly lady vendor selling wild asparagus that my guide Kimi loves so she purchased some, her backpack being large enough for souvenirs. I was offered to sample her various pickled concoctions with the ume plum, a local specialty, pickled with vinegar into pinkish umeboshi. Sealed tightly, they survive any journey. Mine grappled with the inflight altitude multiple times on my way back to Europe.

Our walk was nearing the end. Once more, I was struck with a renewed wonder, even joy from witnessing the human devotion to the spirit of nature that found its ambiguous shelter enveloped in massive, ancient camphor trees. Entering to the Hongu shinto shrine through a Torii gate, that like a door into one’s house separates the common, ordinary space from the sacred, clean, lovingly tended shrine of intimacy, we left the wild for the human world. For a small sum you can purchase a wish plaque called Ema to bribe the deities. Compared to the original offering of horses in the past, the picturesque objects sold conveniently in the vicinity of each of the grand shrines were indeed just nickels. Superstition is an Eastern toy, so Omamori, yet another evil-sparing amulet can be customised to your needed area of protection, but I did not buy into trinkets. After washing my sweaty hands, I am bowing twice, deeply, ringing the bell, again twice, offering coins, clap, clap, and bow once more. Humility and worship (a bounce of the dangling bell, incense lit and prayer recited) is mandatory at each shrine, so respect the believers and play along, arigato!

Ever since the UNESCO recognition, Kumano Kodo ceased to be the gateway to a thoroughly undisturbed solitude as it once was. It is more social today. The meditative spirit of the forest is being wrestled out through the abounding human presence as the loud voices in groups enter the sacred land it still is for the Japanese. Still, some days you may be alone.

Traveling to new destinations enlightens us, but there are some journeys that inspire deeper, mind-changing thoughts. They are the wells of contemplation. In the Japanese forest you will explore silence and the charm of simplicity, that allows for happiness to settle in your life. And not last, abide by the pilgrimage etiquette, which besides the cleanliness and respect instructs you to “greet others with a smile and warm heart”. A happy trail.

Practical advice: It rains a lot on the region, therefore a waterproof jacket, shoes and a foldable umbrella will comfort any weary hiker. An English speaking guide can cost as much as 48,000 JPY (I booked through my hotel AMANEMU that is about four hours drive from the nearest hiking spot). The signage is bilingual in English and Japanese. Like along the Camino de Santiago, the Christian pilgrimage and the only other UNESCO protected trail, the frequent stamp stands along the Kumano Kodo validate your presence in your pilgrimage “passport”. Further, the walkways of Kumano Kodo are well tended, and approachable to any level of fitness. The water in the natural sources along the route has not been tested, and is inadvisable for thirsty human mouths, so hydrate well at the numerous inns and refreshment stands.

Farm to table soba at Tamawarai Tokyo

Eating Japanese soba noodles at Tamawarai Tokyo is a slow food act with a Michelin stared attentiveness to quality. For most Japanese eating lunch at a sobaya is a rushed experience in any fast metropolis on the island country, but not at Tamawarai, where fresh and hand-cut “te-uchi soba” is slowly made and served in a snail pace. The meal starts in a waiting lounge just by the entrance, where the call for tables is being made, one at the time.
The traditional Japanese house where Tamawarai resides stands out in the contemporary residential core of the commercial Shibuia-Harajuku area. A short stroll will transfer you from the hive of caffeinated shopping to a serene spirit of zen.

Simplicity breaths out from its minimalist interior, only a handful of barren tables, laced with stiff, straight wooden chairs and a counter along the wall with small windows letting in just a pinch of daylight. The ubiquitous solitary diners at tiny Japanese eateries call to my mind a prison, be it an indulgent confinement to one’s mind and the meal served often with a muted non-engagement of the server. Some foodies revel in this focused experience. Whether it is meditative or in other way soothes their over-stimulated urban minds, only they know. To me, eating alone is enjoyable for a day or two, but then I seek company, a table full of people sharing the meal’s bountiful pleasure.
Despite the claustrophobic restraint, dining at Tamawarai Tokyo is a happy meal. Our lunch there was a shared affair with friends, injecting in an engaging conversation, plus ordering most of the menu and tasting it all, not wasting a morsel.
The meal at Tamawarai is not just about the long thin spaghetti-like, yet naturally gluten-free soba. You should order the splendid starters and sides. A group of five can share one of each. We doubled the favourites like the perfectly soft rolled egg omelet, the umami reeking baked shiro (sweet white) miso, the pickles or the freshly strained house tofu topped with a dab-full of fresh, pungent wasabi. In spring a cold fern salad is on the menu, their firm bite reminded me of blanched string beans. The grilled mackerel was good, but not outstanding, and can be ordered before or with your soba. We all agreed that the tofu and the miso overshadowed through their brilliant yumminess the main deal at Tamawarai – the buckwheat noodles.

For my main course I ordered the house speciality of zaru soba, soba served in a bamboo basket that’s dipped into a soy sauce. A side of crispy seaweed complemented the noodles with more umami. Two of our friends went for the chilled hiyakake soba in a delicate broth slurped like a cold soup. A hot broth version is “kake soba”. Farming its own buckwheat for the wholesome “Juuwari soba” noodles, so powerful on the palate and visually dark that you suspect if any other condiment was blended in, but as you chew slowly the softness of their soba made of 100% buckwheat flour ground daily in the kitchen, sates you fully with its high fibre content. At first, only a small serving is placed in the bamboo straw basket before you are asked about another round. This waste-reducing portioning is practical also for the diner who mindfully assesses his/her level of fullness.
You must come early if you want the tempura shrimp pickled in Saikyou miso and deep fried served over the soba, otherwise you can have the noodles just with the wasabi and soy sauce.
At Tamawarai sip on soba-cha, a caffeine-free warm beverage brewed from roasted buckwheat groats, that is confusingly referred to as tea. There is beer and sake too put for a complete Juuwari soba experience, try the vitamin-rich soba tea.
Tamawarai Tokyo: 5-23-3 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Lunch Wed-Fri: 11:30am-3pm; Sat 11:30am – 8pm & Sun: 11:30am – 4:30 pm; Dinner Wed-Fri: 6-9pm; Closed on Mondays
+ 81 3 5485 0025

Best Japanese tea rooms in Tokyo

Japan is well-known for its high quality green tea and Tokyo as the shoppers’ paradise. This continuously revised guide to Tokyo’s most noteworthy tea rooms and shops is not only for the serious tea lovers but also for the occasional tea-to-tellers. In the gargantuan maze of the megacity’s districts it is useful to sieve through and focus on the top league players of the Tokyo tea game.

For anyone visiting the Japanese capital metropolis, sitting down and witnessing a tea ceremony (the real one takes hours as I witnessed in Kyoto), enjoying top quality gyokuro or just taking away a cup of the frothy matcha, deep roasted hojicha, new season’s sencha, smoky iribancha or the liquid tea popcorn known as genmaicha, will impart an authentic experience. Today, the trend-seeking young Japanese are not as much interested in tea, unless is has bubbles, cream and other good tea masking additions, even alcohol (Mixology Salon at Ginza Six shake sup inventive tea cocktails). The daily liquid bread of the past is also being challenged by coffee as hipster coffee labs, Starbucks et al. penetrated Tokyo. One man though, a seasoned local designer with a penchant for tradition, who has over the past decade revived the Japanese tea tradition. By employing his minimalist conceptual design, Schnichiro Ogata has rolled the Tokyo tea carpet for the young generations though his group Simplicity.

Higashiya Ginza tea room

He designed the decade-old Higashiya that strung the contemporary design chord in Ginza. Reinventing the Japanese tea experience by introducing afternoon tea (2-5pm), exquisitely crafted tea accessories alongside their irresistible range of signature wagashi Japanese sweets at the Higashiya Ginza tea room, the lost tea souls are brought back to live.

Higashiya dusted off the tea utensils in Schnichiro Ogata’s contemporary ceramic, bronze and copper works, while sustainable yet hardy and so pretty that multi-use comes naturally of the recycled paper cups, bowls and plates make any tea outing more ‘cool’. They roast houjicha in-house like their other sister tea rooms and houses in Tokyo. What sets Higashiya in Ginza apart is the fresh and approachable design as well as the six-seating private tea room available for extra charge. More details in my review.
Pola building, 1 Chome-7-7 Ginza, Chuo, Tokyo
+81 03 3538 3230

Yakumo-Saryo

Yakumo-Saryo transfers you to the gardens of Kyoto. Where the past meets modernity, as you feet set on the stone-paved path, this peaceful Sabo teahouse takes you away from the city centre into the residential corner of Meguro. Here, immerse yourself into tea and wagashi sweets by Baishinka (also sold at the boutique there) in the peaceful tearoom. Reservations via e-mail are essential, and the full Japanese “Asacha” breakfasts are so popular that two weeks ahead may or may not secure your seat. Hiru kaiseki or “Goshincha” tea lunch set are served from noon. Dinner is like a private tea club by introduction only. Although the staff can be quite stiff, the pleasant tea sommelier lady worked at Higashiya for many years prior to moving here and kindly explains and recommends tea to your liking. Seasonal tea like sakura leaf blend in April, new season sencha, top rank gyokuro, aged teas and house-roasted houjicha will make your head spin with caffeinated pleasure. Breathe and savour the moment.
〒152-0023 Tokyo, Meguro, 八雲３丁目４−７, Tokyo
+81 03 5731 1620

Sakurai Tea Experience

Sakurai Tea Experience is the newest addition into the Simplicity design group of tea-centric experiences. A small tea bar, hojicha roasting facility and a kitchen counter in one tiny room inside the Spiral Tower shopping mall in Omotesando. At the comfortable counter seats a simple seasonal bento lunch (we had water chestnuts with rice, pickles and grilled fish in April) is served, but most Tokyo tea connoisseurs come for the extraordinary wagashi and tea set. With the lunch different teas will be served, from cold brewed gyokuro through your choice from some unusual with bacteria or mould inoculated teas (an acquired taste I warn you!) and other more purist Japanese teas. Alcoholic cocktails with tea, miso-aged camembert and seasoned nuts are also offered.
港区Minamiaoyama, 5 Chome−6−23 スパイラルビル5F, Shibuia, Tokyo
+81 03 6451 1539

Cha Cha No Ma

Cha Cha No Ma is the most interesting tea room in Tokyo to learn about and taste diverse top quality sencha from Japan. Directly from the tea farms delivered Japanese tea is the freshest mid to late spring so ideally come to taste the unique flavours of each vintage between April and May, to stock yourself for the year ahead. Talk to the the in-house tea expert about the perfect tea for you. Read more about the unique tea philosophy of Yoshi Watada, who now also teaches tea classes in Yokohama and Oomiya, in my in-depth article. Cha Cha No Ma’s desserts or chocolates paired with tea make for a nice treat next to the silent break in the small contemporary Tokyo tea room.
5-13-14 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001
+81 3 5468 8846

Ippodo

Originally from Kyoto, Ippodo is one of the oldest and most renown tea brands in Japan. In Tokyo, Ippodo has a branch in the busy shopping district in Marunouchi just steps away from the Imperial Palace. The original Ippodo store in Kyoto is also located in the proximity of the former Imperial Palace.
There is a casual tea counter, where you can watch the tea being prepared, and a tea room, where you can sit at a table and savour your healthful cup with snacks. A bowl of matcha will be skilfully whisked at your table. Ideally, the matcha attains a frothy consistence like a top-notch Italian cappuccino. You can select from a wide range of Japanese teas. Premium gyokuro, various grades of powdered matcha (top quality for tea ceremony, lowest quality for cooking), and everyday teas like bancha, the smoky iribancha (sold in giant sacks to their wide global fanbase of customers), hojicha and a plethora of refreshing senchas are all sold there.
The mostly bi-lingual tea experts behind the counter advise you on anything you might want to know about Japanese tea. Sparing later disappointment, most teas can be tasted before you buy. Take-away is available.
Kokusai Building, 1F, 3-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, 100-0005 Tokyo‎
+81 03 6212 0202
Ippodo has a small shop cum tea to go located just under the Michelin stared kaiseki restaurant Kajitsu in New York.

Jugetsudo

Another Japanese tea purveyor that has stretched across the borders of Japan is Jugetsudo. The Jugetsudo Tokyo tea brand was founded by the Maruyama family, that has been sourcing best seaweed in Japan since 1854. Their seaweed shop is still located at the renown Tsukiji Chuo-ku market, but now it is also joined by a tea house with an authentically rustic feel that is comforting. Order one of the tea sets served with the in-house sweets, buy tea utensils, seaweed or tea. The powdered matcha with yuzu is intriguing and refreshing.

I usually have a pot of their roasted hojicha with a superb green tea ‘Mont Blanc’ pastry. Inspired by the French creamy chestnut dessert the “white Mountain” cake was adopted by this tea house that now also has a tiny branch in the Paris’ edgy Saint Germain. The Japanese admiration of French wine, food and fashion meet in the sweet realm. Another branch of Jugetsudo in Tokyo is inside the building behind the Kabukiza theatre. It is larger and more contemporary than its Tsukiji home.
Tsukiji Kyoeikai Building 1F, 4-7-5 Tskukiji, Chuo-ku, 104-0045 Tokyo
+81 03 35474747

For a green Tokyo tea experience visit the Edo era Happo-en garden. Inside, the Muan Japanese tea house is enjoyable on a sunny and warm day in the surrounding traditional Japanese garden. Here, enter “Sado“, the ancient practice of relaxation and drinking tea. The tea master demonstrates the etiquette and spirit of the classical tea ceremony. You can select from tasting either the green powdered matcha made traditionally (2100 Yen, reservation required) or enjoy a quick tea with sweets (no reservation 840 yen).
1-1-1 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, 108-8631 Tokyo
+81 63 3443 3111

Rokkaku: the first Michelin-stared Izakaya in Japan

Izakaya is a casual Japanese meal that, similarly to the Spanish tapas or British pub food, is made to complement alcoholic drinks like wine, beer, sake or spirits. At the Michelin star Rokkaku in Tokyo, the bowls and plates are mostly hearty and quite small, but focused on extracting the best flavour in the simplest presentation possible.

Like the tiny but excellent sushi bars in Tokyo, the izakayas are often hidden in a commercial building and many can only be discovered via a word-of-mouth. For a foreigner, it is an extraordinary challenge to puzzle out the Japanese only signs. As a taxi drops you off just next to a wedding shop, you must follow up the elevator to the fourth floor. Our first mission to locate Rokkaku in a row of look-alike grey buildings in the fog of a bustling Tokyo thoroughfare turned into confused circling around, but it got easier each next time. Sit at the bar facing the ever smiling chef if you can.

In recent years, a number of outliers such as Rokkaku went far beyond the generic expectations of the izakaya regulars. By serving more sophisticated meals tuned to the English gastropubs or Barcelona’s gourmet tapas of the former El Bulli brain Albert Adria, these Japanese contemporary snacks cum gastronomic wows are catching this exciting culinary wave. It starts with the seasonally tuned paper table coaters. In fall you splash the curry broth over a pinkish print of a thistle, while in spring sakura (cherry blossom) enters the lens of your eye as a pea soup and grilled bamboo shoots pop into the multi-course set menu.

The chef Azabu Rokkaku trained for many years in Kyoto’s kaiseki restaurants and his elaborate yet simply appearing food reflects on this refined experience. He speaks some English, and with the help of his two assistants accommodates your taste.
Rokkaku is at least a level up from the typical izakaya. The delightful gastronomic snacks in the kaiseki fashion highlight the best seasonal ingredients. The menu remains similar, with only small seasonal fish and vegetable alterations. Nevertheless, the chef adds courses upon request. Feeling like uni? He will turn out a creamy uni wrapped in shiso and deep fried like a tempura.

Starting with a refreshingly balanced plate of seasonal sashimi like Sea Bream (Tai) seasoned with a slightly sweet Japanese pickled radish, enriched by intense locally made Bottarga shavings, and sparkled with a popping grain resembling quinoa, your expectations are set for an impressive succession of dishes. Then a kaiseki-style assemblage of marinated fried fish, scrambled eggs with baby taro balls, tuna roll and two incredible mouthfuls of deep fried maitake mushrooms and cod fish sperm, usually follows as does a bowl of clear soup with seasonal touch like peas and fish balls.

Some favourite staples such as the Fried Oyster, Beef with seasonal mushrooms and vegetable shabu-shabu accompanied by raw egg dip, and the Rokkaku Curry udon with Kujo green onion and tofu remain at hand to please regular guests anytime their cravings bring them in. We always order the curry udon after the chef’s initial tasting plates. Away from the spices, another warming dish is the delicious sizzling pot of shabu-shabu. The Curry’s allure dwells in the perfectly cooked thick udon noodles and a hearty spicy broth. Overall, it is much lighter than its Indian and Thai sisters, while strings of fried tofu skin and eggs added drier texture and chopped green onions some zest, making for a satisfying meal. Two regulars joining us at the bar seats came specifically for the Curry Udon and slurped it joyfully, interrupting in between only with their sighs of pleasure. We all got a paper bib to spare our clothes from accidental drippings. The Kyoto style Hamburg, a coarse beef patty with tomato sauce and seasonal vegetables like pumpkin was not our preferred style though. At Henry’s conceived by the yakiniku master Kentaro Nakahara, you will get a much better, succulent burger.

One of my favourite mouthfuls is something translated to me like Fried mushrooms and seafood ball with a dip of soy sauce and side of freshly grated Chinese cabbage. Doughy texture inside, crisp tempura batter on the outside, it was the perfect tapas with the glass of my red Burgundy. A Grand Cru or a village wine (we had both), the freshness of the Pinot and the acidity balanced the fatty nature of the fried dish.

The Fried oyster served with homemade tartare sauce is a must have. The delicate texture of the large Japanese oyster, the perfectly crunchy but not oily tempura coat, a squeeze of lemon for freshness and chunks of eggs and pickles in the house style tartare sauce, all won me over as a randomly satisfied oyster fan. For me, more convincing than the legendary oyster omelette at Singapore’s hawker food courts.
Rokkaku’s Egg omelette with black truffles from Provence is also one of the popular staples. Rolled into a smooth wrap its warm surface melts together forming a small roll, that lets the knife smoothly through but holds in together when transferred with chopsticks into your mouth. It is a great plate to round off the savoury part of the meal.

When ingredients run out, the chef does not hesitate to improvise. With some local guests showing up without reservations, Azabu Rokkaku must be ready. Leave some space for a dessert. While simple, the scoop of rich Black sesame ice cream with sesame or peanut cookie, is impossible to resist, and despite being very full, I always clean up my last bowl thoroughly.
The atmosphere of the tiny European bar-like room is lively and friendly. If you are travelling from further away, book ahead.

The drinks selection is good: bottles of Bordeaux, Burgundies, some New World wines alongside a wide selection of sake as well as award-winning Japanese whiskies. BYOB is accepted, and some regulars bring their own bottles of wine. The corkage is ¥4,000 per head, therefore it is a better value to bring more bottles for a wide choice, as you can always take the rest home.
With izakayas becoming more popular abroad, they are slowly catching up with the cool vibe of sushi. Such excellent chefs as Azabu Rokkaku, this style of Japanese snack food can inspire the ever-changing gastronomic offerings around the world. In California, New York, Paris and London the izakayas are popping up in full force, but none is as good as Rokkaku.
4th Floor, Yuken Azabu building 10, 1-5-5 Azabujuban, Minato-ku, Tokyo.

住所：〒106-0045 東京都港区麻布十番１丁目５−５ YUKENAZABU.10 4F

!!Beware, there is no sign in English, so just take the lift to the 4th floor and walk in.
Dinner only 6 – 11 pm. Closed during the Golden week, mid-August, between late December and early January.
+ 91 03 3401 8516

Cha Cha No Ma: tea from an expert with a bento lunch in Tokyo

Cha Cha No Ma literally means a dining room where tea is served. Hidden from the sights of the Tokyo’s manic shoppers in the narrow maze of shopping cul-de-sacs in Omotesando, the Tokyo’s most hip and trendy shopping district, the small and cosy tea room is a balancing escape from the fast-life in Tokyo.

Enjoying Japanese green tea from sencha specialist

Yoshi Watada, Cha² No Ma founder and certified ‘Japanese Tea Instructor’ by the Green Tea Institute in Shizuoka, personally selects each year about 30 types of tea for his store, tea room and a casual diner in one. All of his tea is hand-picked mostly from Shizuoka, the largest tea growing prefecture in Japan. More, he provides you with little tasting cards for each tea, so you remeber which one you liked.

Mr Watada also authored a book on tea in 2009, an English translation of which is now in the works. While, he is aware of the long tradition of Japanese tea drinking, he adjusted the methods of preparation of the local green tea, sencha, his passion, in particular. Adjusting it to the modern time, he employs cold dripping through ice cubes, adding ice into brewed warm tea, serving it with sparkling water or steeped tea leafs on ice cubes, all alongside the traditional hot water brewing (80ºC max for green tea). You an witness his complex tea ‘ceremonies’ at Cha² No Ma or if you read Japanese, get his book. As I tasted a number of different teas in his suggested preparations as well as the usual way, I can conclude, that I was bemused how differently the same tea could taste! Its sweetness, level of bitterness as well as body (mouthful) can be highlighted or suppressed depending on which preparation is selected. The brewing temperature, as well as the length of steeping the tea leafs, affect the flavour tremendously. You can spoil your pot of tea so easily, so be careful!

The Japanese tea culture: the past meets modern fast times

He explained to me how different is the contemporary Japanese tea culture from the traditional. The oldest tea style, popularized by the Japan’s father of tea ceremony Sen Ryukyu, was the powdered matcha whisked into a fluffy beverage seved in a wide bowl. As tea became commercialised, it is now drunk in an informal style anywhere from Starbucks to a specialist matcha ‘fast-drinks’ chains such as Nana Tea in Tokyo. The formal tea ceremony is mostly performed for tourists. Still, the most popular daily tea in Japan is bancha, or tea that is drunk with a meal.
The tea barrista prefers sencha, a new style of steamed Japanese tea which can differ so widely that it captured his curiosity. At his cafe, he serves pre-selected varieties of a single farm and type every vintage. Although he tends to keep the same picks every year, tea like wine differs from a vintage to vintage, and this fascinates him. He even sells some vintage sencha such as the that I purchased recently.

Savor sencha at Cha Cha No Ma

Ryusei is a Japanese native wild tea tree grown and hand-picked by the farmer Mr. Tsukiji. Since it is a wild tea, the size of the leafs and the flavour of the brew can differ from a batch to batch. Unlike most of the steamed Japanese green teas, it benefits from multiple brewing as with each pouring of hot water a new fragrance reveals itself. Try it warmly brewed, in an ice-drip-preparation or with ice cubes added into the glass. The 2012 vintage of a “deep genuine taste” was very powerful in all dimensions, a strong bitterness, big body and also pronounced sweetness that shows best if you prepare the tea through the ice-drip method. After a coupple of brews I realised that it should be steeped for a very short time in the warm pot, 30s max.!

The bestseller is Aoi Tori of the Sofu kind. This hard-stem young tea was hand-picked and steamed, and because of it not being as bitter and having a smooth flavour, it became the friendliest of all senchas at Cha² No Ma. Also grown by Mr. Tsukiji in Shizuoka, it has a “fragrance taking you up in the clear blue sky“.
I like Sakuya, the “noble atmosphere” evoking steamed tea of the Koshun type. It was grown without the use pesticides, is balanced, floral and very clear, so it drinks smoothly. Like the Ryusei, it can be appreciated in multiple brews as the flavour changes with each pouring of fresh water.
If you like naturally more sweet green tea, than try Tougenkyo also of the Koshun type, but with more pronounced peach scents, particilarly when served cold.
The Ujigyokuro is generally the highest grade of green tea in Japan. The tea bushes are shaded from the sun before harvesting so the chlorophyll levels are increased yielding brigter green leaves with a more sweet, rather than bitter taste. The first harvest late in April and May produces the highest quality of this tea. The vigour of the spring shows in the bright and energising flavour. Mr Watada likes to serve it in all his four ways. Unlike for sencha, the warm pot should be steeped in a maximum temperature of 60ºC.

At his cafe cum tea house, he will happily explain, in his slow yet adorable English, anything about Japanese tea, shows you the various preparations and highlights the impact on the taste of each tea. He is not as keen on having certified organic teas. After talking with many local producers, for the quality and taste to be assured annually a little bit of “medicine” [aka pesticides] is generally used in Japan. He also added though, that the good farmers do not add any chemicals if the weather conditions of a certain year are favourable.
The food for lunch is always fresh and healthy. The bento-style plates in the daily set-lunch menu with three choices from the main plate, one of them always vegetarian, one usually a fish and the third a meat course. All served with rice, a soup, some tsukemono (pickles), a mildly sweet dessert and a barley porridge. A typical cup of bancha and a glass of iced green tea are included in the price. We honored the Japanese tea pioneers, the Buddhist monks, who brought tea from China to Japan in about 800 AD as we usually choose the vegetarian meal. A bowl of sesonal steamed mushrooms and veggies is usually served in this veggie bento.

As is a Japanese custom, sweets are also available to accompany your pot of tea. We had matcha mochi, the sticky morsels made of gooey flour, water and covered in powdered green tea. They make for a nice pairing with green tea.
When looking for the discreet tea room, you may get lost in translation as it often happens in Japan. My advice is to look at the Chanel and Dior boutiques alongside the main shopping Avenue in Omotesando, then turn into the side alley between them. Lunchtime is very popular with locals coming from the offices in the area, so you better book. If you want to enjoy just tea with some sweets, then better come outside the lunch hours so you can chat about the tea with the expert.
5-13-14 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001
Mon-Sun: 11am-7pm
+81 3 5468 8846 chachanoma.com

Sushi-Ya Ishiyama: exotic seafood in edomae sushi

The youthful Japanese chef Takao Ishiya of former Sushi-Ya has worked at top three Michelin-starred sushi restaurants in Tokyo (Saito) before his pursuit of his own seafood and rice-paved road. The Shinjuku born and raised sushi master believes in the spirit of his city and instead of venturing into the fashionable Japanese restaurants abroad, he literally holed his first start up eatery in an undefined alley inside the dining kingdom of Ginza. His new venue since 2018 is more upscale, called after his last name Ishiyama, but the food is even better.

The tiny room cum sushi bar seats only seven to eight diners, who entrust themselves into the chef’s hands and skills in the omakase sequence of superb morsels of fresh ocean produce. Despite its sombre beige setting, the place hums with a very pleasant and creative zeal. The only decoration is a drawing of a young geisha facing the chef’s stage that hints at humbleness and mystery, no need for more as Takeo-san performs magic with his hands and focused gaze.

Takao Ishiya with LMB editor Radka Beach

At Sushiya zipping your mouth and bowing in front of the chef as if you were visiting a Buddhist shrine, is responded with the chef’s raised eyebrows. Unlike many of the older serious sushi chefs in Japan, the young Takeo is open to talk and his good-hearted spirit turns any meal at Ishiyama into an interactive and friendly occasion.

As a foreigner, be ready for some adventurous pieces of sushi at Ishiyama. You better be a real gourmand, open to trying anything. Do not look, just eat, since the impressions of taste will persuade your brain that sometimes weird food is worth trying. Cod fish sperm (Grilled Shirako also known as Milt), sea creatures served with their livers, blood cockle, but you will also get simple but very good quality cuts of the usual bonito, fatty tuna, mackerel or sardine.

Ma-aji, Japanese Jack Mackerel, looks similar to a sardine, but it tastes more subtle. As is typical for edo-mae (Tokyo-style) sushi it is served cut in specific pattern opening the fish flesh up to diced chives and ginger. Achieving its peak flavour in summer, the fall yields more fat and smooth taste. By all the sushi chefs loved Bonito was cut and served in three levels of rawness. The feast for the palate and discovery of one fish’s potential.
Some never-seen-before items arrived from the kitchen right in front of us at Ishiyama. Co-diners from Hong Kong, ahead in their omakase, did us a great favour when they begged the chef not to tell us what that twisted baked softly textured UFO (= Unidentified Food Object) was before we cleaned up our plates. I enjoyed the rich and smooth texture of the Cod Fish Sperm seasoned with black pepper enormously, but if I knew ahead my brain would surely react with prejudice. Tasting it au nature, not covered in a tempura batter as I had it before at Rokkaku’s izakaya, expanded the boundaries of the weirdest food I put into my mouth.

The Akagai Blood Cockle was served with its black liver. A sip of sake helped to balance the salty string of the outer membrane, while its distinct crunchiness can alienate some diners. Another less usual citizen of the sea, Shako or the purple striped large Mantis Shrimp was sweeter in the late autumn because of its higher fat content. The soft yet slightly dry texture reminded me of a crab.
Saw-edged Perch, Ara, is starting to swim onto the sushi chef’s menus in late fall, Sushiya Ishiyama including. This white wish is often served with yuzu skin, and tastes very clean. While sometimes I find it boring, at Ishiyama I enjoyed its freshness.

No foreplay, the chef went straight to serving Chu-toro, the fattiest tuna. During this meal, I learned, that there is a huge difference in how the fat can be distributed in one cut of fish, and that most chefs do not pay too much attention to this. Takeo meticulously selected evenly marbled morsel of melting meaty delicacy. Like a scoop of not too frozen gelato, slowly let the flavours unwind. Applause!
Salmon Roe, Ikura, peaking in November and most Japanese restaurants we dined at during our trip served it in their preferred way. At Sushi Yoshitake, ikura was served in a typical layer atop a rice and nori bun, but at Sushiya Ishiyama we got it straight. Subtle shavings of yuzu skin and a bowl were its only companions. No hindrance to its highest potential, delicious.

Chef Ishiyama is bold, and his love of chives reflects itself on the plates. His preferred greens are diced, chopped or wrapped inside a slice of sashimi, but only when they add something, not simply for decoration.
Anago is highly prized in Japan. The sea Conger Eel is white in contrast to its more murky river species and it was served twice, once grilled on a skewer and plated with cod liver, chives in soy sauce, and later pure, just grilled on a bun of sushi rice. Both were the best preparations of eel we had to date.

To finish, the usually boring (for us) egg custard Tamago, got a beautifying makeover in the chef’s hands. Tender, almost gelatinous and creamy like a Crème brûlée, this egg pudding slipped smoothly through our lips.
During our chat with chef Ishiyama and our desire to come back for a lunch, we learned that also children aged over 7 years are welcome on Sundays. If your kid is a serious connoisseur of food, consider a treat here in Tokyo.

The price is high, but Ishiyama charges less than most of the two and three-star spots in town. The restaurant can be very tricky to find, but once you spot an Apple store in Ginza, take second right alley and you will be rewarded by an excellent food.

This new location of Sushi Ishiyama is on this business card bellow. Practical to show your taxi driver.

🕗 Tue-Sun: Lunch 12noon-2pm; Dinner 5pm-10pm.
✉ Chuo-ku Ginza near the Apple Store, Sushi Ishiyama (鮨いしやま) 4F, 3-3-6 Ginza, Tokyo
☏ +(81) 03 3538 3969

Sai: natural cuisine of Japanese chef with French pedigree at Myojinkan

At Sai, not the Olympic athletes compete against each other in the international spectacle, but the Nagano natural ingredients accomplish their finest performance in the hands of the Japanese chefs’ team at a remote ryokan in the mountains. Tobira Onsen Myojinkan, opened between the two World Wars almost a hundred years ago, has retained its fame as a hot spring retreat, but the delicate French dining is now overshadowing its in-house Japanese restaurants.

Sai, according to the chef, is the Chinese character for vegetables. Although in Japanese pronunciation “sai” can have other meanings, the veggies stand out on the gastronomic menu.
The natural organic cuisine of Masahiro Tanabe, a Japanese grand chef with distinguished French training, is brought to its sublime existence in the hands of the Sai’s resident chef Tomoaki Handou.
Tanabe’s adoption of the light nouvelle cuisine, stemmed from his cooking at France’s leading Michelin establishments in Lyon and beyond, where he not just learned to speak fluent French, but adopted the nouvelle cuisine’s accent on vegetables and smaller helpings of the animal protein than in traditional gastronomic restaurants.

Wholesome approach to each plate where the ingredients are synchronized as “a grand show in its entirety“, not a single expression of let’s say a seabass.
In the late autumn, a wooden carving of wild mushrooms on each table brought nature to diners minds in the dinner darkness outside behind the large windows facing a stream and forest. Starting with the Mountain of mushroom amouse-bouche of dehydrated crispy maitake and cauliflower mushrooms dusted with mushroom powder, underscored the chefs’ intention to bring local nature to your mouth. Served on moss in a clay pot as if lifted from the forest ground in front of you, they were intriguing in their rawness but did not absolutely define the following courses.
The casually named Direct sales egg came from a nearby farm and was served in its shell. Both yolk and white were whipped up with cep mushrooms into a creamy and rich delicacy. Eggs are ubiquitous in Japan and superbly mastered domain of the executive chef.

Being located at a Relais & Chateaux hotel, breakfast was also served to hotel guests. A must try are the Eggs Benedict since they were indeed the best we have had. Perfectly cooked, the buttery richness of the hollandaise sauce, moist texture of the mushrooms (in the bacon-free version), house cured salmon and better than anywhere English muffin bun won our palates over. By adding shaved radish and parsley, a multitude of contrasting flavors came into one complex perfection balancing the French richness with the chef’s creativity.
At dinner, after the eggs the lightest plate Terrine of mesclun salad was served. What an unusual super fresh dish! The green leafy greens were jellified in the terrine with local tomatoes and avocado in a tomato juice. While Lentil soup may sound boring for a gastronomic restaurant, it was much more than that. Local freshwater prawn and black trumpet mushroom were enough for a sophisticated soupy bowl.

At Sai, local ingredients are celebrated while some selected imports are embraced. Foie Gras came from France and the lamb Australia. The chef could have skipped them entirely and include other local specialties such as beef from Kobe or Nato and fish liver instead of the goose liver. The exquisite rich yet delicate Eel served with local red rice were both from Japan, while foie gras added more gastronomic flare.
Both, flash from the sea and the land feature on the regular tasting menu, but if you pre-order the macrobiotic meal, the chef’s specialty, meat and fish will be substantially reduced or entirely replaced by grains and vegetables.

Seabass came next. Its skin roasted and its tender meat softly slid from the fork into our mouths in the mixture with enoki and shimeji mushroom all in a gravy of sherry vinegar. The almost raw Leg of lamb from Australia, sliced thinly and served with green pepper, saltwort and local vegetables, was lighter and more elegant than the usual lamb preparations.
To clean our palates before dessert, the Harvest of fruits in Niagara wine from Yamabe jelly also brought our minds back to Japan. There was no Frenchness in it, but this was to be amended by the following sweet Pain perdu, a French toast with Asian pear from Nagano and a scoop of milk ice cream. Much better and lighter than it French inspiration.

As a Relais & Chateaux property, the hotel restaurant imbibes in luxury. The French group’s guide misleads its readers by stating that the cuisine is macrobiotic, which it is generally not as it has to be pre-ordered three days in advance as a special request. In Matsumoto, the nearest town, inside an ancient kura storehouse the chef launched Hikariya-Nishi restaurant based entirely on the macrobiotic principles.
Sai’s calm setting away from noisy cities allows for a mindful enjoyment of each mouthful. Here, in the heart of Japan’s “Northern Alps”, amidst the wild nature from the inside of this secluded hot spring retreat let your gaze rejuvenate your mind and body while dining.
The kaiseki restaurant at the hotel was not as good as at other ryokans I stayed at and if you come this far, better dine at Sai twice. Although, after a week in Japan you might get tired of the no-choice menus at most restaurants there, the exquisite meal at Sai is worth the multicourse feast as it is as clean as it can be for a gastronomic experience.

✉ Tobira Onsen Myojinkan 8967 Iriyamabe, Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture 390-0222, Japan
☏ +(81) 263 31 22 81

Entei Spa at Beniya Mukayu: zen in nothingness while soaking in Japanese hot springs

Japanese onsens, the natural hot springs, have been rebalancing the bodies and minds of the zen cultured island nation for centuries. Many of good health seeking Japanese people, who could afford to travel into the specific hot spring sites, often remote in the mountains or coastal regions, would journey to these healing wells burbling with mineral-rich water. Usually staying at the local inns, in Japan known as ryokans, these wellbeing travelers would enjoy the deeply personal hospitality and a comfortable access to the public baths.

Yamashiro Onsen in the Ishikawa province in Western Japan also uplifts one’s spirituality. Its warm waters burble up from the Earth at the foothill of the “Healing Buddha’s Mountain” as the Yakushiyama area was once known. The Yamashiro hot spring was discovered over a millennium ago by a Buddhist monk on his pilgrimage to the Hakusan mountain. Folk belief in the sacred Hakusan mountain was empowered by five temples built in the area, the Yakuoin Onsenji temple in today’s Yamashiro town being the most prayed upon among Buddhists.
The monks healed people through the water’s alkaline mineral nature and when needed employed medicinal herbs. This ancient wisdom is being used today at the Entei Spa located inside the contemporary zen boutique hotel Beniya Mukayu. The place, whose later name means “nothingness”.

As a Relais & Châteaux property, the husband and wife owned and operated Beniya Mukayu caters to each individual guest with an astute sense of traditional Japanese hospitality. Their display of care, humbleness, and the zeal of their youthful Swiss-trained staff will make your stay so comfortable that you will forget all the disturbances of the modern daily life. Choose to stay either in refitted traditional tatami room as I did or stick to the Western room comforts.
Zen out in one of the hotel’s 16 rooms, the spa or during the 10-course locally sourced seasonal kaiseki meal prepared by the in-house master chef. Here, you are allowed to fully focus on the restoration of your one and only self, which will become self-less through this memorable stay. If you desire a hammock, they will hang it on your private terrace.
The balance of one’s spirit comes naturally while strolling in the surrounding wild garden. Bemuse yourself in the company of the flowering camellias, red-leafed maples, mighty pines and the giant sunny-coloured fruits of the Karin pears.
Around the hotel’s common areas, you will find pleasure in displayed contemporary art collected by the owners. Ceramics being for centuries the most distinguished local craft are exhibited and sold at the Beniya’s shop.
Myself, I had been inhaling the wisdom from the guest library, where hundreds of inspiring books in English and Japanese enrich your own knowledge database. Pottery, design, crafts, dining, traveling, … plenty of inspiration.

Flow with tradition in Japanese style

If you are a virgin to Japanese ryokan culture then the facilities may at first find yourself in s state of bewilderment. The staff is there to advise and explain all the rules of bathing, common dining as well as cohabiting a space dedicated to the purification of one’s soul. It becomes natural, fun and you will miss wearing the traditional wrapping dress once you leave as it saves you from decisions like what to wear, there is only one dress to cover yourself for the spa, to dine and you are encouraged to wear it around town! It may sound awkward for a Westerner, but most enjoy being part of the game.
Choosing to stay at the traditional Japanese room type is a revealing cultural experience. In your entrance hall, take off your shoes as barefoot walking on the tatami mats is mandatory. You also will get a pair of old-style socks with an awkward two toes split. It is an acquired habit and your feet might feel totally confused by this extraordinary arrangement. Economical in-room arrangements mean that your sitting room area will be transferred into a bed as the futon is unrolled each night on the tatami floor.

Taking traditional Japanese bath calms your mind, restores stamina, and allows for your thoughts to get lost in the haze of the hot spring water steam. Usually, these are public spaces with separate male and female facilities, but the guests of this hotel are each spoiled to having their own ofuro. Read more about the proper way to enjoy the hot bath. It is an ideal start to your spa treatment, so soak in and relax.
At Beniya Mukayu the entire rejuvenation happens holistically. Unlike at most spas, where just physical touching by human hands during a massage is designed to release one’s sorrows, here centuries of eastern knowledge are applied to your wellbeing. Traditional Chinese Medicine supervised by a certified doctor gave birth to the treatments, while natural, non-toxic biotechnological products were developed exclusively for the spa by Ph.D. Yoon Soung Choi, whose scientific background asserts self-reparatory immune abilities of the skin.
After filling up a detailed questionnaire, your resulting recent health and wellness profile will guide the therapist during the signature Yakushiyama body or face treatments as well as the aromatherapy oil massage, shall you prefer essential oils. Specific herbal blend for your personal needs is used for both the massage cream and for warm poultices pressed afterwards onto your skin. At the end, you relish in a foot bath and sip an herbal infusion, again fit for one of the four domains. These are Cho integrating internal balance, Ryu facilitating circulation, Sha discarding excess or Ho supplementing shortage. I needed to balance so I bought an extra supply of these herbs to brew while traveling.

Tea is Japanese cultural heritage, so in your room you will find two beautiful lacquer caddies, an oak brown one containing fresh sencha green tea while the black caddy shields from the external aromas and oxygen the local brown stem tea Kaga Bocha produced in the area. This for the region distinct roasted twig tea enchants you by its burned leaves flavors, while being lighter than most hōjicha and tastes like autumn to me.
The owner of the hotel, Mr. Nakamichi, daily upon request performs the shorter Urasenke tea ceremony, either in his tea ceremony room in the garden when it is warm outside or inside the library. He seriously whips a bowl of matcha for every attendee.
If hiking does not restore your balance, then daily morning yoga at the front part of the Horin (Square Forest) restaurant with open garden view stretches you gently out every morning. The 45minutes class is guided in Japanese, but you will need just these two words: sutteeeeeee (inhale) … haiteeeeeee (exhale)… a total ZEN.

Photo essay: Autumnal leaves changing in Japan

Seeing the leaves changing in Japan is on the bucket list of many travellers. Japan is famed for its glorious autumn leaves transformation when nature brightens up the skies with the colourful outburst of beauty. Kyoto in particular is highly visited during the late fall seasonal awakening, but Tokyo offers as much pasture for the colour-hungry eyes. The Shinjuku Gyoen National Park and the Imperial Palace gardens sate you with the endless visual pleasure.

The Japanese have planted their gardens, parks and temple yards savvily for the future wondering at nature’s beauty. A German forester, Peter Wohlleben humanised trees in his best-selling book The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate, writing “trees are very social beings, and they help each other out”. When you consider the life of trees and their relationships, you may see the autumnal wardrobe change with different eyes.

For me the leaves changing in Japan is as it appears to the shinto believers:

Nature is the temple

The Goddess that enlightens your spirit

Soothes your soul and

Guides the zen life you need

Leafs changing colours in Autumnal Japan

Leafs changing colours in Japanese garden

Beyond Japan, there are many other locations for the best autumn leaves sightings. New England in the US bordering Canada, the UK and the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia rank among the most visited fall destinations for nature lovers. Still, the perfection achieved by the rigorous Japanese is hard to surpass. Their garden landscaping and the meticulous attention to detail in planting the ideal species where they strike your eyes most emotionally, makes a trip to the island nation worth the Far-Eastern journey. The leaves changing in Japan is just magical!

Kanda: the art of modern kaiseki in Tokyo

Kanda is not just a district in Tokyo and a name for one of its subway stations, but also the last name of a Three Michelin stared chef Hiroyuki Kanda and his namesake restaurant. Since the guide’s inauguration, Kanda has been a constant Three star laureate, mainly because of the chef’s creating his own version of the artful kaiseki in modern Tokyo.

As it is more common for restaurants in Tokyo, Kanda is located is an apartment building, and not obvious to a non-japanese speaker. Getting the exact address to a taxi driver helps as he can navigate you in this discreet small residential inlet in the midst of the upscale maze of the Roppongi district. Do not hesitate to enter inside the door facing you right on ground floor.
Hiroyuki Kanda speaks also English and French, which is a welcome news for foreign visitors since it is rare for the japanese chefs to profess other languages than their mother tongue.

The chef stands firmly behind his innovations. Emboldened by his experiences in France and renowned restaurants in Japan he seems proud to stream away from tradition. Although he serves most of the established kaiseki courses, he creates his own order.
There is no printed menu and you will be served about 10 courses one after another, so if you are interested in what is in your bowl inquire as the food is being served.

His hassun traditionally setting the seasonal theme was not an assortment of miniature dishes, but rather a piece of snow crab baked with its hearty roe. I have eaten this crab in almost every set menu during my two weeks in Japan and while Kanda’s take measured up to most of the others, it was not superior. Then we were served the first warm dish that arrived in a navy blue ornamented porcelain bowl. On the bottom was a delicate creamy tofu mixed with seafood and baby mushrooms topped with a spring onion jelly. Smooth texture and more pronounced taste than in similar dishes served at the zen vegetarian shojin ryori style eateries in Kyoto.

The mukozuke, usually a seasonal sashimi were four thin cuts of white fish (cod – presumably Higetara Cod variety) plated together with its silky liver or sperm sacs (the chef translated it after pondering a while as liver, but it is more common in Japan to serve the popular delicacy of the cod’s sperm sacs known as ‘shirako’), diced green spring onion and its clear thin rings & umeboshi (japanese pickled plum) sauce served on a side.

While we were still in a sensual ecstasy from the dish, what followed was a genial, while a simple combination, of white Alba truffles shaved on bonito tuna (‘katsuo‘ or skipjack) nigiri sushi. Yakimono, a seasonal grilled fish came after. Adorned with ginkgo nuts and colorful autumnal maple leafs it reminded me the most of the traditional kaiseki dishes served at Kikunoi in Kyoto.
The futamono of lidded clear dashi broth with shrimp, fish ball, matsutake mushroom and leafy greens displayed the pure flavors and quality of each of the ingredients and it was far from boring. The smoky dashi highlighted wonderfully the produce of the land and sea.

A very modern pinnacle of the kaiseki tasting menu of the night was the slightly grilled, almost rare, beef steak enveloped in a breadcrumb crust. It was succulent and meaty, unlike the fatty wagyu, often considered the most desired type of Japanese steak, because of its extreme marbling. It seems though, that most refined eaters prefer a leaner cuts, so they can taste more of the meat. Served with a wild bunch of greens and a dollop of spicy mustard the plate was well-balanced. In a kaiseki meal it can be classified as shiizakana, a simple dish showcasing the best ingredients the chef managed to acquire.
Those of you that drink wine or sake during dinner still had space for more food, so we welcomed the gohan of a small bowl of cooked rice topped with sticky shrimps. The shrimps were sweet and savory at the same time, but also more simple, which is welcomed by the end of a meal.

The handmade book-like wine list is very personal and reveals the chef’s background spent in France. Although the French wines (mostly Burgundy and Bordeaux; we had a Grand Echezaux that was very well priced) are in majority, there are some California icons such as Ridge Monte Bello or the ridiculously priced Screaming Eagle as well as Australian beauties like a Pinot Noir from Paul Lato, that is particularly interesting. Most of the wine labels are glued on each page accompanied by a hand-written price. The chef is on hand to recommend a bottle for you if you cannot decide.
The sake selection is also impressive, larger at most sushi restaurants in town. We went for an unpasteurized medium bodied sake, the name of which these of you who can read Japanese can puzzle out (it is the common problem with sake that the labels are only in Japanese).

Our meal had still two more dishes lined up. The perfect sweet three dots as if the story should continue – perhaps on your next visit to Kanda – in the form of mizumono after the meal, was first a fruity custard with a cup of Japanese green tea and the final gong sounded in a superb not too sweet buckwheat ice cream. I could easily have had two scoops of that!

With its three Michelin star badge, Kanda is expensive, but for real foodies it is worth savoring its modern approach to this very traditional Japanese culinary art. Moreover, the service is very personal, since the main room has only one perfectly polished wooden counter seating eight, and only one small private room. The limited seating makes it challenging to reserve as well as more exclusive like some of the excellent sushi restaurants in town.
Address: 3-6-34 Moto-azabu, Minato, Tokyo 106-0046, Japan
Contact: Tel: +(81) 03 5786 0150
Opening hours: Daily for dinner except Sunday & holidays: 6pm-10pm

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