food Archives - Unseen Japan

A woman in a white chef's jacket stands in front of chicken skewers grilling over charcoal.

Why Female Yakitori Chefs Are So Rare in Japan

Why are there so few female yakitori chefs? The story behind what keeps women out, and three female chefs defying the odds.

Chicken biryani on a patterned blue-green plate with cilantro, sliced red onion and lemon wedges, on a dark wood table.

FOOD

Ōsawa Takamasa’s Tokyo Restaurant Only Serves Biryani. It’s Earned Him Michelin Praise

Inside Biriyani Osawa: a tiny, reservation-only Tokyo spot serving one pot of biryani per seating, praised in the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2026.

A nighttime view of Tokyo Tower, a smiling chef holding a plate of tonkatsu, and a busy Tokyo shopping street.

TRAVEL

The Tokyo Neighborhoods With Japan’s Most Acclaimed Restaurants, According to Its Harshest Reviewers

Which Tokyo neighborhoods really have the best food? Tabelog scores from 794 restaurants reveal surprising winners and losers across the city.

Bowls of uncooked white rice and white rice flour with rice stalks, on a bamboo mat.

TRAVEL

Traveling Gluten-Free in Japan: What You Need to Know

Traveling to Japan while also wrestling with a gluten allergy? It's tricky but it can be done. Here's what you need to…

Glazed chicken yakitori skewers grilling over glowing charcoal as a hand turns a skewer.

FOOD

Yakitori in Tokyo: From Cheap Skewers to High-End Grills

All you need to know and more about yakitori: its history, nose-to-tail cooking, and popular chains vs. Tokyo's luxury omakase grills.

A chef in a brown apron, arms crossed, composited over a Nagoya street scene with a silver spherical museum building

FOOD

Celebrity Japanese Chef Says “Nagoya Has No Good Restaurants” – and the City Erupts

A remark from influencer chef Ryuji ignited a firestorm in Nagoya, but there's a lot more than meets the eye to Nagoya's…

INSIDER

Japan Discovered MSG. Why Do Even Some Japanese Call It “Poison”?

MSG has been pilloried for decades in the United States. But Japan's "additive-free" movement has also labeled glutamate's most prominent supporter a…

Illustration of a black bear walking through a village of houses, flanked by two large cuts of meat on the bone

FOOD

Japan’s Bear Crisis Is Putting Bear Meat on the Menu

As bear populations expand and attacks increase, Japan is looking to turn an environmental challenge into a culinary trend with bear meat.