Ramen is becoming ever more popular, it is a real foodie trend at the moment and showing no signs of slowing down. The rise of this Japanese street food and favorite of late night Tokyo office workers, is evident with the dedicated ramen restaurants that you can see opening around London and worldwide. In the […]

Hinamatsuri (Doll’s festival) is a special day in Japan, held on 3rd March, where we pray for the growth and happiness of young girls. In my home town of Yamanashi, we celebrate Hinamatsuri in April, we’re a little later than the rest of Japan. Apparently in the Maiji period the Japanese government changed to a solar […]

Setsubun – Celebrate with a Wonderful Shira-Ae Soya Bean Recipe Setsubun is celebrated yearly, on February 3rd, and marks the day before the beginning of Spring. This is despite the fact that it’s still cold at this time of year in Japan and is often still snowing! As well as welcoming in Spring and saying goodbye […]

Happy new year! It’s that time when we’re all trying to stick to our new year’s resolutions and get healthy or recover after over-indulgence during the holiday season… So today I’m sharing with you my favourite tool in healthy cooking: Umami. What is umami? The word ‘umami’ comes from the Japanese for ‘delicious’ or ‘yummy’ […]

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year, everyone! In Japan, New Year’s (shogatsu) is the biggest celebration of the year and more of a family occasion than Christmas, which is much more low-key. Quite the opposite to how things work in most Western cultures! It is a time for people to gather with their families […]

I’ve been a little quiet for a few months, but I’m finally back and with some big news… I’m excited to tell you that there is a new addition to my family. I welcomed my baby, Hana-Zuki, into the world on May the 23rd. She’s beautiful, healthy and doing well. I was busy working up until 10 days […]