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]]>They’re essentially equivalent of arcades, full of crane games, coin game machines, single/two player games and so on. You will need 100 yen coins to play, so look for a change machine in the game centre (they have small cups to help you carry them!) and off you go!
Put the required amount (mostly 100 yen for crane games) and try your skill!
There are many different types of crane games, and prizes are varied, from soft toys, hand sanitizers, to sweets and canned drinks!
Few of the prizes my son managed to get for about 10 pounds in total.
My daughter’s favourite was Mario Cart and Taiko-no-Tastujin, a drumming game, both available on Nintendo Switch but a lot more fun on larger apparatus. I got myself blisters playing the drum against her!
You can find rows and rows of Gatcha machines wherever you go in Tokyo. There are endless kinds of miniatures you can get, from keychains to mini-figures of popular anime characters.
The fun of it is that you don’t know which variety you’re getting, but if you’re after a particular one, you might end up spending a fortune trying to get it!
It’s safe to say that karaoke has been popular for a very long time, I remember going to a “karaoke box” when I was a teenager, nearly thirty years ago!
Unmistakable signboard for a Karaoke place.
Larger Karaoke venues have the whole building converted into small karaoke rooms, from single use to large party size rooms.
You can choose from half an hour slot to “free time”, all you can sing package.
A small room for 2-3 people.
Enter the songs you want to sing, and it is displayed on the TV screen. The tablet can be changed to English, and there are lots of English songs listed too.
These are a few things my children look forward to and enjoy when going back to Japan every time. It might be a little awkward to try the first time, but once you get the hang of it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the experience too!
I have added a blog about desserts in Tokyo. It would be great if you could read it as well, Enjoy!
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There are various bus tours operating in and out from Tokyo, and you can also find tours operated in English. We chose a day tour from central Tokyo to Yamanashi, where you can enjoy the view of Mt. Fuji and sample wine and pick seasonal fruits, this time, peaches.
At Narusawa Hyoketsu ice cave, you can cool down during the hot summer months.
First you walk under the Torii gate. It’s customary to bow before going through.
Fantastic views with Mt Fuji and Chureito pagoda.
There were white, red, and rose wines to taste, also grape juice and peach juice to sample at Chateu Katsunuma winery.
Peach picking at a fruit farm. Lots to pick!
Peaches are pretty big, and I only managed to eat two, but they were both very sweet and juicy.
It was a full day of experiencing what Yamanashi prefecture has to offer, from natural formations to seasonal fruits. There are various tour operators, offering day trips and even over-night stays. A lot of companies have English tour options too.
Only an hour from central Tokyo, Kawagoe has beautiful old buildings from the Edo era preserved and turned into shops and restaurants.
There are quite a few temples and shrines along the way from Honkawagoe station to the historical area, with cafes, restaurants, and shops to look into.
Kumano shrine
A street with old buildings turned into shops
An old bell tower that is still in use
You can’t miss Ghibli Museum if you’re a Ghibli fan. Located in Mitaka city in Tokyo, there are many manuscripts and animation cels on display that have been used for their films as well as lovely stained-glass windows and decorations throughout the museum.
I hope some of the places we’ve visited have inspired you to come visit Japan!
I have also add an blog about Tokyo Food. Please read it as well!
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Green tea is quite popular in UK now, but have you ever tried matcha? It’s a lot stronger and thicker than normal green tea, made from ground powdered green tea, prepared by a wooden whisk which creates a foam on top. It may look bitter, but quality matcha actually tastes somewhat sweet.
The hotel I stayed in served matcha as a welcome drink to the guests, and to be honest, this was my first proper cup of matcha. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Layers of whipped cream, corn flakes, green tea sauce, anko (sweet red bean paste) and green tea ice cream, you can enjoy various combinations of taste in each spoon. Different textures and a variety of sweetness makes it fun to eat too.
Cafe: nana’s green tea
Budget: £
I always, ALWAYS make sure I eat at least one cup of this when I’m in Japan. Why don’t they sell these in UK?
Shiratama is made from shiratama flour, mixed with water, then boiled. It has a chewy but soft texture. This dessert also has anko (sweet red bean paste) and green tea ice cream, as well as whiteish jelly made from agar, and it’s complete with pouring kuromitsu (dark brown sugar syrup) over them.
Cafe: nana’s green tea
Somewhat similar to crema Catalana, a Spanish custard egg dessert, purin is a distinctively Japanese sweet. It’s made of eggs, milk, and sugar, but some are creamy, some have more texture.
I found this café on Instagram and had to try their premium purin, which they sell out by late afternoon. And it did not disappoint! Just the right texture, right amount of sweetness that matched well with the bitter caramel sauce.
Café: 4/4 seasons (all seasons) coffee
Budget : £
It was mango season when I visited, and this was definitely the one to try. Ripe sweet mangos that would melt in your mouth, mango sorbet and thick mango sauce in the bottom, together with lightly whipped cream, I could have ordered another!
Café: Senbikiya Fruit Parlour
Budget: ££
Have you had any of the Japanese desserts listed here before? Have you found a favourite you might want to try some day? I hope I’ve inspired you to take a trip to Japan and try Japanese food and Japanese desserts yourself!
]]>I had a long list of things I wanted to eat, and a full schedule meeting up with friends over lovely food in Tokyo! Here are but a few Tokyo restaurants I’ve visited and Japanese food I’ve enjoyed.
]]>Ever since I moved to UK, I’ve been going back to Tokyo, my hometown, every year but with Covid I had to stay put for nearly three years before finally visiting again!
I had a long list of things I wanted to eat, and a full schedule meeting up with friends over lovely food in Tokyo!
After dropping my cases off at the hotel, I headed straight to a nearby ‘unagi’ restaurant. Grilled eels have been eaten since around 1400’s in Japan, and the most popular way to eat them is with soy sauce based sweet sauce on top of rice.
It doesn’t taste fishy at all, and the flesh is fluffy and melts in your mouth soft. I had to have a toast with Japanese beer, as I have been so desperate to come back to Japan for the past three years!
Restaurant : Unagi Honmaru
££ - £££
Probably the most famous Japanese food, sushi in Japan is so much different from that you can get overseas. Tokyo sushi is also called Edomae-sushi, and there are lots of ‘YO! Sushi’ type restaurants in Tokyo, but I prefer going to one with a counter, where the chef puts his delicate creations in front of you one by one.
Restaurant : Ginza Yokota
££££
Popular types of sushi include tuna, fatty tuna, prawn, salmon roe, various white fish and sea urchin.
Popular types of sushi include tuna, fatty tuna, prawn, salmon roe, various white fish and sea urchin.
Restaurant: Sushi Kagura
£££ - ££££
Famous or shall I say infamous for its poison, puffer fish, or fugu is considered a delicacy. Handling and preparing fugu is strictly controlled by law in Japan, where only trained and qualified chefs can prepare fugu, removing the toxic parts and avoiding contaminating the meat.
I’ve only had fugu once before, so I must say I was a little nervous when my friend took me to an all-fugu course dinner, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the different ways in which the fish was cooked.
The most popular way to enjoy fugu is sashimi. Its flesh is a little tougher than other white fleshed fish. It’s lovely with ponzu, a citrus based dark sauce.
Grilled Fugu
Deep Fried Fugu
Restaurant: Yamadaya Marunouci
£££ - ££££
Soba, ramen and udon are the three main noodle dishes you can enjoy anywhere in Japan. Soba is made from buckwheat, ramen and udon from flour, and they can be eaten cold, or warm in a broth.
Cold soba with its distinctive colour and fragrance.
Restaurant: Soba Ishihara
£ - ££
Udon noodles are usually narrower and thicker, but this restaurant is known for its paper-thin super-wide udon noodles. I had to queue for half an hour to get in, I had no idea this place was so popular! Soy sauce based dipping sauce is the norm, but they also offered sesame based thick sauce, which went really well with the noodles!
Restaurant: Hanayama Udon
£ - ££
Japan is probably the only place where you can enjoy so many different types of thinly sliced meat, and the best way to enjoy them is yakiniku.
You get your own grill at the table, and you can grill the meat to your preference.
I was too busy eating, these are the only photos I’ve taken!
Restaurant: Beef Kitchen
££ - £££
These are all categorized as street food/snack, although there are posh counter type yakitori restaurants that have become very popular in the recent years.
Yakitori literally means grilled chicken, but you can enjoy a variety of different types of chicken meat, from breast, thighs, heart, wings to skin. They also offer grilled vegetables.
Takoyaki is a ball-shaped street food made of flour-based batter, filled with diced octopus (tako), pickled ginger and green onion, cooked in a special moulded pan. They are typically eaten with Takoyaki sauce (tastes like sweet Worcestershire sauce) and mayonnaise, with dried bonito shavings sprinkled on top.
Restaurant: Takobiva
£
I kept eating and drinking right up to boarding! My last Japanese food I had was edamame (and draft beer). I normally don’t drink beer unless I’m in Japan, and I have no idea how many glasses I’ve had during my 8 day stay!
These were a few things I indulged in during my short stay in Tokyo. I hope you enjoyed reading about them as much as I enjoyed eating them! I will be writing about sweets I had in Tokyo in my next article. I look forward to seeing you all then!
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Because it is a courier service, the shipping duration will be much quicker, but the cost will be higher at the same time.
We appreciate for your generous understanding for this situation.
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Did you know that the cherry blossoms actually only bloom for about two weeks? Therefore timing is imperative! They start to bloom around March 20th in Kyushu and continue to bloom throughout the rest of Japan by the end of March/beginning of April. Although, with spring being rather unpredictable; beautiful sunshine one minute and raining cats and dogs the next… the delicate sakura can be washed away in the blink of an eye. Perhaps the rarity of the blossoms is what makes them so attractive?
Or perhaps the blushing pink and white colours, the delicate smells or the excitement of a cherry blossom viewing party! Either way, sakura in Japan are adored and enjoyed every year by Japanese people and visitors alike.
First things first, you find a great spot where the cherry blossom trees are in full bloom. Usually the local park has a lot of trees. You grab your picnic blanket or ‘blue sheet’ from the 100 yen store and set up your spot under the sakura. Be sure to get there early to secure your spot as people love to flock under the sakura during this time. After you have found a nice spot, spread your blue sheet and leave some marks, that way you can go back home and have a sleep before your special day. Luckily in Japan, once your spot has been claimed, nobody will intrude. How polite are the Japanese?! This is how the hanami spot competition works in Japan.
When the time finally comes, unpack your delicious goodies, take out the playing cards and enjoy the petals floating down towards you with your friends and family. Hanami isn’t just for daytime either! Some parks have special lighting or lanterns set up so you can view the cherry blossoms at night too. They’re eerily beautiful and a must see if you’re ever venturing to Japan for cherry blossom season.
If there’s one thing Japan does right, it’s food! Am I right?! A Japanese picnic is the perfect way to enjoy hanami with your friends and family with a colourful collection of bento (lunch boxes). Some people make their own bentos, others buy snacks from the supermarket or convenience stores. Typical foods to enjoy are karaage (fried chicken), takoyaki (grilled octopus balls), ebi-fry (breaded fried prawns), onigiri (rice balls) and tamagoyaki (sweet rolled omelette).
There are special traditional Japanese desserts called sakura mochi which can only be enjoyed during hanami season! It’s a rice cake filled with red bean paste and wrapped in a salty cherry blossom leaf; absolutely to die for!
Hanami dango are another sweet treat; three sweet dumplings colored typical spring colours of green, white and pink and served on a skewer.
One thing that goes well with wonderful weather, cherry blossom viewing and yummy foods is a crisp beverage. Unlike the UK, in Japan it’s actually legal to have a drink in most public spaces. You can have a drink outside under the sakura; a well loved Japanese drinking custom. The best beverages are sake and beer, chuhai (Japanese spirits flavored with fruit juice) and for the non-alcohol drinkers, a nice cool cup of tea or soft drink.
It’s vital to respect Mother Nature but also your fellow cherry blossom viewers. A very Japanese habit that must be observed; take your shoes off before you step onto the picnic mats. Rubbish must be collected and either disposed of in a bin or if there is no bin it must be taken home with you. Respecting the cherry blossom trees is also very important; absolutely no climbing or breaking off branches! Follow these simple rules and you’ll be golden.
Although only subtle meanings, sakura are thought to represent good fortune. As we know the cherry blossoms bloom in late March/early April which also happens to be the time when people tend to start work, change departments at work and the start of the new school year. Just as the cherry blossoms burst into bloom, it’s a representation of hope for those students and workers to burst with success for the new, challenging but exciting year ahead.
Another representation is that of love and femininity; love for the life you have, love for the brief time that you have on this earth and love for being able to appreciate the beauty of sakura and other precious moments in life. The cherry blossoms are like our lives; so short and fleeting so we should make the most of it and appreciate the time we have. Isn’t that a beautiful sentiment? The Japanese have a saying “mono no aware” which is translated into “the pathos of things”.
What that means is we should have empathy and appreciation towards others and things as nothing is forever. This impermanence and short life span of the cherry blossom mimics that our lives. There’s some food for thought…
Hanami can be dated back to as far as the Heian Period (794-1185) and were exclusively reserved for nobility only. Nowadays anyone and everyone can enjoy the blossoms together so make sure to grab your blue sheet and marvel at the beauty. Phew! Do we have any rugby fans reading this? The rough and burly Japanese national rugby team proudly uses the dainty sakura as their logo, how’s that for irony?
There’s a unique and very useful weather forecast done especially for cherry blossoms; The Cherry Blossom Forecast which allows you to see maps of the blossoms, when they’re in full bloom and blooming expectancy! People can plan their hanami perfectly weather-wise… if you ask me I think that’s blooming brilliant.
Sakura (cherry blossoms) are so well loved that some parents even name their daughters Sakura! In fact, Sakura is one of the most popular female names in Japan. Cherry blossom tea is usually served at very special ceremonies and events such as weddings as a token of luck for newlyweds and celebrants. Finally, the national flower of Japan is… the chrysanthemum (you thought I was going to say sakura didn’t you?) and it is the imperial emblem printed on the cover of Japanese passports, can be seen at Japanese embassies abroad and at Shinto shrines too… however the cherry blossom is considered the “unofficial” national flower of Japan (you can remember that last little fact for the next pub quiz night).
Hanami is a special part of Japanese culture that holds dear to many. Not only is it about getting your ‘drink on’ whilst munching delectable treats, spending good, quality time with your loved ones and being at one with nature with the pink and white petals dancing down towards you as you… how quintessentially Japanese does that sound? It’s about appreciation of life. If Japan and the precious tradition of cherry blossom viewing has taught us anything, it’s to be sure to live in the essence of the moment, a touching sentiment that we seem to forget in our busy day-to-day lives. From us here at Zak Zakka we wish you a splendid spring and hope it brings with it the start of many successful endeavors for you and yours.
]]>You probably won’t believe it but a Japanese tradition on Christmas is eating KFC… it doesn’t sound very Christmasy does it? But it’s a tradition that many have held dear since the 1980s. Christmas isn’t viewed as a religious holiday but rather as a date night for couples to visit German-style Christmas markets, friends to have KFC parties and everyone still goes to work or school!! Rather, Oshogatsu (Happy New Year in Japanese) is the time when everyone comes together and relaxes.
Everyone looks forward to New Year’s in the UK right? You pick out your best outfit and head to that countdown party for lots of dancing and drinks. You shout the countdown whilst watching Big Ben, singing Auld Lang Syne and kissing your nearest and dearest… It’s completely different in Japan! Rather than “party party”, mum usually makes a traditional dish of Toshi Koshi soba noodles that are said to bring good luck for the upcoming year. Some people venture out to the shrine for midnight to get the first prayer of the year in.
New Year’s Day is a big Japanese culture tradition. Some people wake up before the crack of dawn to get up high and watch the first sunrise of the year. Upon returning home, the whole family gathers to enjoy a unique breakfast feast. First and foremost, you greet each other with a respectful bow and say “Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu” (HAPPY NEW YEAR) Then, “Kotoshi Mo Yoroshiku Onegai Shimasu'' (Thanks for last year, and in advance for this year too!). Once everyone is comfortably seated, blessed Japanese sake is poured from one person to the next from a special pot into a mini saucer-style cup that the receiver must hold. It’s believed to prevent any illnesses for the rest of the year. What a great excuse to enjoy a little tipple! It’s enjoyed alongside dried squid and dried seaweed kelp.
If you’re a kiddie, you’re in luck! Grandparents love to give Otoshidama; an envelope of money. Rather than gifting Christmas presents, people like to give New Year’s presents of premium meat selections, fancy cooking oils and other delicious treats. Some families have a go at mochi tsuki (rice pounding to make rice cakes) with a massive mallet and mortar. Some like to watch the two day train station relay race, Hakone Ekiden on 2nd & 3rd.
New Year food and osechi is a beautiful, colourful selection of foods which all hold a different meaning. For example; prawns for a long life, black soy beans for health so you can work diligently, rolled omelette for knowledge and learning, sweet mashed chestnuts for wealth, herring roe for fertility, lotus root for a happy future, red snapper fish as a symbol of celebration, etc. The idea of osechi is to give mum a break from cooking for a few days as New Year’s is all about rest and time together. Rather than cooking away in the kitchen, the food is all pre-made and there’s so much of it that it should last a day or two. Ozoni mochi (rice cake) soup is also served and is said to have been a dish enjoyed by samurai many, many years ago! Dried persimmon is also enjoyed and you must count how many pips you have as an odd number of pips is lucky.
As you can see, the Japanese celebrate New Year’s a little differently compared to the West; a time for family to enjoy each other’s company whilst feasting on an array of colourful and symbolic foods, taking some time to relax and appreciate everything. So no matter how you’re celebrating New Year’s this year, please stay safe and from us here at Zak Zakka we wish you a Happy New Year and hope 2021 will bring you, your loved ones and the world a safer place. See you next year! Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!
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