Let’s dive into the culinary magic of Japan! If you followed along with my 10-day Japan itinerary, you know that this trip was a total whirlwind. I consider cuisine a major part of my pre-vacation research, but this trip was a little different. A lot of advice was that we didn’t need to stress about where we ate because the quality of food in Japan is set to such a high standard. Which was so true! In fact, when we did follow the crowds we ended up being disappointed most of the time. When we (quite literally) followed our gut we were always pleasantly surprised! We even stumbled upon a Cuban sandwich in the mountains of Lake Kawaguchi! ICYMI I’m Cuban, so this felt kismet and it was such a nice way to connect with a (now) local and learn about how they came to Japan!
Ahead of the trip, I found some great content creator’s to follow like the Japanese based, and fellow IBS girlie, Grace Chin who was super helpful on tummy friendly snacks. I needed my bookmarks folder since I started the trip quite ill (thanks, food poisoning!). My food journey was a mix of “safe” comfort meals and diving into the iconic food Japan is known for when I could. From the viral matcha spots in Tokyo to the “kitchen of Japan” in Osaka, here is everywhere (and everything) we ate!
📍Tokyo Foods
conveyor belt sushi
📍Lake Kawaguchi Foods
📍Kyoto Foods
📍Osaka Foods
Convenience Store Royalty: Lawson>FamilyMart>7-Eleven
I cannot write a Japan food guide without mentioning the konbini.
- The Egg Salad Sandwich: Believe the hype. It is the creamiest, softest sandwich you will ever eat.
- Onigiri: The perfect $1 snack for the train.
- The “Safe” Snacks: I lived on Lawson’s water and light snacks during my first few days. They are clean, reliable, and everywhere. My favorite were the Lawson’s Salt & Pepper Snap peas.
- 7-Eleven Smoothies: superior to anything stateside.
Final Pro-Tip:
Bring your passport! Many food-adjacent shops and department store basements (which have amazing food halls) offer tax-free shopping for souvenirs like high-end matcha or Japanese sweets.
