Once again fate finds me back in Japan, wondering what I can enjoy eating here that I can't enjoy back in lovable Leuven, Belgium, where one can have excellent cuisine of all kinds with a glass of well-made wine for a pittance (the norm is the Belgian franc equivalent of under 1,000 yen). It's hard to think of anything, as Belgium sets a very high culinary standard.

Among the everyday Japanese treats, though, I much like good Japanese bento, the box lunches containing fish, meat, vegetables, often rice as well, or sometimes soba (buckwheat noodles). Those sold in good supermarkets aren't bad, and the lacquer-box versions in restaurants can be memorable. Stepping up, kaiseki ryori, the elegant traditional Japanese box lunch, a cuisine-cum-art form, can be an extraordinary, if costly, indulgence. If you drink wine with any of these, keep it simple: a chilled dry white such as a riesling, Mueller-Thurgau, sylvaner, aligote or pinot blanc. Since red meat is minimal even when part of the bento, red wine rarely makes sense. In any case, go lightly with the soy sauce, as wine doesn't get along with it.

One of the things that comes prominently to mind when I consider a wine-compatible year-round delight in Japan is fried oysters. Japan seems to have a way with this dish. Some say one should eat oysters only during months having an "r" in their name. If so, that leaves us with what's left of February and then only March and April.