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September 01, 2024
 

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Makiko Itoh

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Makiko Itoh
Makiko Itoh writes the Japanese Kitchen column, and is the author of the bestselling "The Just Bento Cookbook" and its sequel, "The Just Bento Cookbook 2." A Tokyo native, she runs two Japanese cooking blogs, JustHungry.com and JustBento.com.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Aug 19, 2017
Pickle your own veggies with a traditional Japanese nukadoko
The nukazuke method of pickling vegetables in a fermented rice bran bed called a nukadoko was developed in the 17th century. Since vegetables pickled in a nukadoko absorb Vitamin B1 from the rice bran, they helped to prevent beriberi, an illness stemming from a lack of the vitamin that was so prevalent...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Tools of the Japanese Kitchen
Jul 22, 2017
The circular evolution and history of Japanese rice cookers
Cooking rice, the staple grain of the Japanese diet for hundreds of years, used to be a laborious process. A dedicated heavy cast iron or earthenware pot placed on a wood-burning stove called a kamado was used for the purpose, and managing the heat to cook the rice properly required both skill and long...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Jul 15, 2017
Once a food for the upper classes, tofu is now enjoyed by the masses
It's not certain exactly when tofu was introduced to Japan. One theory holds that it was brought over from China by the great Buddhist priest and scholar Kukai, also known as Kobo Taishi (734-835) in the early ninth century during the early Heian Period (794- 1185). However, we must fast-forward to the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Tools of the Japanese Kitchen
Jun 24, 2017
Getting in the groove with 'suribachi' and 'surikogi,' the Japanese mortar and pestle
A home kitchen in Japan is typically filled with all kinds of electronic gadgets. Yet there are some food preparation tools that are so useful that they have remained the same, and in steady use, for hundreds of years.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Jun 17, 2017
Beating the heat with food: 'Hiyashi chūka' cold Chinese-style noodles
If a Japanese dish bears the name chūka, meaning Chinese, chances are it's not really Chinese at all, but a Japanese invention with Chinese-inspired flavors.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Tools of the Japanese Kitchen
May 27, 2017
Hone your knowledge of Japanese kitchen knives
Japanese kitchen knives have a worldwide reputation for excellent quality and artistic beauty. The trouble is, there's so much mythology and romance surrounding them, not to mention a bewilderingly wide range of prices and types, that it can be difficult to make a choice.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
May 20, 2017
First-harvest green tea goes best with traditional ‘karinto’ sweets
Hachijū-hachi-ya, the 88th day after risshun, the first day of spring, falls on May 2 in most years. It's the day that marks the beginning of the new tea harvest season, according to tradition.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Apr 22, 2017
The storied history of the potato in Japanese cooking
The main clue as to when potatoes first entered Japan comes from its name in Japanese, jaga-imo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Mar 24, 2017
'Taimeshi' red sea bream and rice: The key to celebrating most anything in spring
The love of seafood has deep roots in Japan, and it can be interesting to trace these back in history. Where fish are concerned, long before tuna was king, Japanese sought out tai.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Feb 17, 2017
'Aji furai': Getting saucy with deep-fried fish
The typical Japanese home kitchen has an array of condiments that reflect a wide variety of influences.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Jan 20, 2017
'Oden': Japan's traditional winter fast food
The shelves of Japan's convenience stores change with the seasons, but winter brings a particularly unusual addition: stainless steel food warmers installed next to the checkout counter containing oden, a stew of tofu, boiled eggs, daikon, fish cakes and other ingredients simmered in a dashi broth. You...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Dec 16, 2016
Sukiyaki, Japan's other New Year's meal
Late last December I went to a Tokyo branch of my favorite butcher shop, Ningyocho Imahan, to buy some meat to make a roast beef for my family's New Year's meal. When I arrived I was surprised to discover an hourlong wait to order. The crowd outside had lined up to buy Imahan's exceptional (and expensive)...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Nov 18, 2016
'Sobagaki': An ancient soba recipe
New-harvest rice, known as shinmai, is the culinary star of autumn in Japan. But there's another grain that is just as eagerly anticipated at this time of year in many parts of the country: shinsoba, new-harvest buckwheat.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Oct 14, 2016
'Kuri': The nutty staple of ancient Japan
Fresh chestnuts are one of the few things in Japan that are truly seasonal and not available year-round like so many other food products these days. Chestnuts (kuri in Japanese) have been consumed here since prehistoric times. Charred chestnuts that are more than 9,000 years old have been found in and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Sep 16, 2016
How Chinese stir-frying snuck into Japanese homes
Stir-frying, often thought to be a part of all East and Southeast Asian cuisines, has a fairly short history in Japan. The method of rapidly cooking chopped food in oil over a hot fire was first introduced to the country by Chinese immigrants in the Meiji Period (1868-1912). This was the era when restaurants...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Aug 19, 2016
Beat the heat with help from a spicy Japanese staple
The heat and humidity of August doesn't help a waning appetite. Spicy food does, though, and in Japan "spicy" means curry.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Jul 15, 2016
'Yamaimo': Japan's slimy mountain yam
Japanese have a fondness for slippery, slimy food that people from other food cultures often find puzzling. Sticky nattō (fermented soy beans), mozuku and tororo konbu (two kinds of slimy seaweeds) may take some getting used to, but once you do they can be quite addictive. In addition, these slippery...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Jun 17, 2016
Once considered low class, how did tuna get so valuable?
Fresh, raw tuna reigns supreme in the culinary world these days, especially when it comes to sushi and sashimi. Bluefin tuna, known in Japan as hon-maguro or "true tuna," is so popular that global stocks are dangerously low due to overfishing. But tuna didn't always reign supreme: until the modern era...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / G7 Ise-Shima Summit Special
May 25, 2016
Ise area is known for a wide variety of delicious cuisine
According to the Nihon Shoki, the second-oldest book of Japanese history, around 2,000 years ago Princess Yamato-hime was ordered by her father, Emperor Suinin, to find a new, permanent shrine for the most important deity in the land, the great sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami. The princess, taking her...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
May 20, 2016
A brief guide to dining after a disaster
The earthquakes that hit Kumamoto last month likely have many people in Japan thinking about disaster preparedness. The country is in one of the most seismically active regions of the world, and no stranger to other disasters either.
Alerts issued for Tokyo area cities as Shanshan crawls across Japan
A submerged area of Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on Thursday after Typhoon Shanshan dumped torrential rain throughout the Kyushu region.
Typhoon Shanshan batters Kyushu ahead of likely landfall
A satellite image shows Typhoon Shanshan south of Kyushu on Wednesday afternoon
From tropical storm to 'violent': Japan’s typhoon classifications
A satellite image from Wednesday shows Typhoon Shanshan south of Kyushu as the storm was rapidly intensifying.
Tropical Storm Shanshan soaks Japan as flood and landslide risks rise
People walk in front of closed ticket gates for the Tokaido Shinkansen in Tokyo Station as train operations between Tokyo and Nagoya remain suspended due to Tropical Storm Shanshan on Saturday.
Japan scraps idea to woo women out of city with cash
Bureaucrats had envisioned payments of up to ¥600,000 for women who got married and settled outside of Tokyo, according to media reports.
Japan seeks another record-breaking defense budget for fiscal 2025
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force hold a live-fire exercise at the GSDF's training grounds in the East Fuji Maneuver Area in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May. Japan's Defense Ministry is seeking another record-breaking budget for fiscal 2025.
Can Japan handle a heat wave and natural disaster at the same time?
A member of the Self-Defense Forces wipes away sweat as he conducts a search and rescue operation at a landslide site caused by heavy rain in Kumano, Hiroshima Prefecture, on July 11, 2018.
Did you feel that? It may be time to refresh your disaster kits — and vocabulary.
A map of western Japan shows the Nankai Trough and, to its north, the hypocentral region where the energy for an earthquake is thought to be building.
This English schoolboy has big dreams of becoming yokozuna — and more
Nicholas Tarasenko trains at Minato stable in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, on Tuesday. Tarasenko’s potential in sumo was made obvious when he won U18 gold in the 90-kg weight class at the 2023 Baruto Cup in Estonia despite being four years under the age limit and having only had a total of one hour of sumo training before the meet.
Kitakyushu clashes with academics over Meiji Era remains
Remnants of the first Moji station complex are located near the current Mojiko Station in the city of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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