Culinary Windows Archives - Windows to Japan

Culinary Windows

Enter a world of well-crafted flavor. Japan proudly employs a blend of world cuisines and original cooking techniques to make delicacies unique to the nation. Spending time with master chefs and culinary specialists, understand why it is that this country has taken the Michelin Star world by storm.

Kyoto Home Cooking

Kyoto Obanzai Home Cooking

Kyoto City is home to kyoryori cooking, delicious dishes cooked to perfection using local, seasonal ingredients combined and arranged to mingle until they create flavors that are undoubtedly Japanese, with aromas that will take you back to the days you spent in the historic capital. Our friend and excellent cook will teach you how to bring a taste of Japan home with you as you put your newfound culinary talents to work in an authentic Japanese house and kitchen. Enjoy an afternoon of cooking, merriment, and eats.
Sushi Making

Sushi Making

You may be accustomed to the standard nigiri sushi and rolls filled with cucumber, fish, and a tad of wasabi for a little punch. We would like to introduce you to one of the master sushi chefs we have been blessed to get to know, and with their guidance, you too will be able to impress friends and family back home during your next dinner party. Not to leave you with just the standard fare, we can also take you to a master who can teach you to turn simple sushi rice into edible works of art. Fun for children as well, from flowers to famed characters; the mere sushi roll becomes a canvas, and lunch.
Sake and Pottery

Sake Tasting and Japanese Pottery

Sipping nihonshu sake marks the end of the day, a taste of respite from the day’s ins and outs. There is a separate culture surrounding alcohol to be found in every country. In Japan, depending on the season, the taste and method of serving sake changes, as do the vessels it is served in. Taking a moment out of your touring, we invite you to join our specialist in Japanese sake and pottery for a bit of quiet and reflection while savoring the flavor of rice wine, and taking in the subtle shift in colors and design of sake cups and bottles designed by Japanese artisans, taking your favorite home with you at the end of the experience.
Soba Noodles

Soba Noodles

A perfect ratio of ingredients and skill are required to concoct the subtle and clean flavor of Japanese soba buckwheat noodles. A soba-making master will guide you through the steps and help you create a lunch to remember while simultaneously giving you a skill to take back home to friends and family. From farm field to plate, each bowl of soba comes from the Japanese countryside with love.
Culinary Kyoto

Culinary Kyoto

Densely packed, modern cities offer choices innumerable when it comes to delectable delights. Kyoto, with its small, winding streets is no different except for one thing: its centuries of culinary history and craftsmanship. Allow our gastronomic specialist to show you the way to Kyoto’s historic makers of food, flavors, fragrances and refreshments. You’ll go behind the shop-fronts to meet sake brewers, miso makers, confectioners, tea connoisseurs, masters of pickling, preservation, umami and more as you get an in-depth introduction to Japan’s culinary techniques, and to the people who dedicate their life to their safeguarding. See the passion, detail, and nods to tradition that go into everything they create.
Sumo Dining

Life and Dining with Sumo Wrestlers

A living symbol of Japan, sumo wrestlers are dedicated and disciplined fighters that few learn much about outside of their size and manner of dress. Choose to be one of the few, and experience a morning in the life of a sumo wrestler. Silent training at dawn will reveal to you the level of discipline these fighters hold. A tour through the stable kitchens followed by a brunch consisting of homemade chanko nabe hot pot stew will show you another talent these wrestlers hold — cooking! During brunch, you will get the chance to ask about and hear story upon story of the sumo wrestler lifestyle. A sumo wrestler’s strength lies not only in fighting, but in friendliness as well.
Osaka Food Tour

The Streets and Food of Downtown Osaka

From north to south, the feel of Osaka City changes in a most obvious manner from posh to downtown funk. We wish to take you on a unique walk through the streets of southern Osaka, a place where the aesthetics of the Showa era and working class run strong, where the conversation and drinks are free flowing, and where delicious comfort food in its many Osaka-specific varieties abounds. Taking the late afternoon to explore what is known as Osaka’s rougher streets, unafraid to show their age or pride, you’ll learn the history and dynamics of the downtown while enjoying local fare, and watching the area transform as the sun sets and the neon lights glow.
Kyoto Street Food

Kyoto Tabearuki (Eating While Walking)

Though more famous for its fine dining, Kyoto also holds its own when it comes to street food. Our friend and your guide for the day will take you through the famous sake and food streets of a Kyoto lesser traveled where you’ll be able to sample some of Kyoto’s seemingly more simple, yet amazingly delicious fare. While walking past shops, shrines and temples, you’ll also learn about the history and the people in the area, getting a feel for more everyday and real Kyoto.