By Keiko FukudaA takoyaki food truck first appeared in the Los Angeles area a few years ago. Back then, Okonomiyaki restaurants had already existed, b...

By Kosuke KujiI’m a firm believer that brewing delicious sake worldwide will lead to more consumers enjoying Japanese sake. To accomplish this, we must introduce the latest Japanese sake brewing technology, emphasize the meaning and importance of foreign brewers brewing authentic Japanese sake in Ja...

By Kosuke KujiI felt for a long time that for Japanese sake to become fully established worldwide, sake must be further refined at the product level by both sake breweries overseas and at the brewery level as well. When I voiced my thought to President Iida of the Rice Polishing Machine Manufacturer...

By Elli SekineIn June of this year, the very first long-awaited teuchi (handmade) soba specialty store has opened in Oakland, which is located across the bay from San Francisco. “Soba Ichi” is a full-fledged soba specialty restaurant where fresh soba noodles are handmade every day with their house-m...

By Yuji MatsumotoIn the past twenty years, Japanese beer, sake and shochu sales have expanded according to the increasing number of Japanese restaurants opening. There is plenty of growth potential for the Japanese restaurant industry in the U.S., which constitutes only two percent of the scale of t...

By Aya Ota“DokoDemo”, a restaurant which develops and serves everyday casual dishes that are so familiar to Japanese people such as yakisoba, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, etc., opened in NY, and is attracting a lot of attention.“I would like to spread Japanese street foods throughout the US,”says Shin Tak...

By Keiko FukudaPalos Verdes is a residential area in the suburbs where you find many ethnic groups including Japanese. Compared to its west side which faces the Pacific Ocean, the east side, looking down the harbor of Los Angeles, has a lot of commercial buildings including a shopping mall. On Weste...

By Kosuke KujiHidetoshi Nakata, former professional Japanese soccer player representing Japan, is serving as executive member and judge for the contest “SAKE COMPETITION 2018” that judges the most delicious commercially available sake in the world. During this competition, Japan ranked No. 1 in the ...

By Elli SekineAt last, “Nagi”, a ramen restaurant chain, which is growing very quickly in Japan and Asia, opened the first US location in Palo Alto in June. Since their name is very well-known in Japan, people started to wait in the line for over an hour immediately after its opening, filling up the...

By Yuji MatsumotoIt would be a waste to enjoy distilled liquor, honkaku shochu and boutique sake as cocktails. While drinking them straight will not necessarily expand the flavors nor add body, sake with the distinct rice odor can be surprisingly delicious as cocktails when mixed with fruits and / o...