Finding restaurants that serve food seasoned with herbs isn't that difficult in Japan. In fact, it would be more difficult to find a French or Italian restaurant that doesn't have herbs in its pantry.
"[In Western cuisine] herbs are indispensable for accenting flavors; similarly we can't imagine Japanese cuisine without seasonings such as myoga [ginger] and shiso [perilla leaf]," says Moriaki Sakamoto, the owner/chef of of Labyrinthe, a French restaurant in Shirokane, Tokyo. Sakamoto creates innovative dishes such as grilled lamb served with molokheiya sauce and topped with chervil, tarragon and dill.
About 20 years ago, however, parsley was the only Western herb widely known in Japan -- and even then, only as a garnish. Other herbs such as tarragon, chervil, marjoram, dill and sweet basil were in limited supply, sold only at a few department stores and supermarkets at high prices and not exactly "fresh" after long transportation.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.