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Explore Japan Map

From Hokkaido all the way down to Okinawa, we are highlighting the riches of each prefecture with our new Explore Japan map. Simply click on the map to view related products and blog posts relevant to each prefecture. We have loads of articles...

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Spotlight on Shiga Regional Foods

I have lived in Tokyo in the past for about 10 years of my life, but I admit my knowledge of Japanese geography is really limited. Limited not only to Tokyo proper, but more specifically to Western Tokyo, where pretty much everyone...

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Where to Get Japanese Noodles in LA

I am a junkie - a noodle junkie. It is my favorite food and carb of choice. I could probably give up bread, and maybe even rice, but never noodles. This month, I took over for Yoko for our monthly club Sake Gumi, and decided on the theme of Sake...

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The 2017 Bay Area Ramen Boom Report

In Japan, they call any big, nationwide trend a boom (ブーム). For example, right now cilantro is all the rage in Japan. I'm serious - cilantro on EVERYTHING. So you could say there's a cilantro boom in full force in Japan. It's taken a long while for the ramen boom...

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Umami Mart Map: Kauai aka Paradise

Ah, Kauai. We went over New Year's, to unwind after an exhaustive holiday season. Yoko and I felt we deserved a nice vacation, and we brought along our sig others, my brother Keisuke, and Jay and Rie of Atelier Dion. There's obviously a ton to...

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Umami Map: Ode to Sacramento (And Mom)

On a game trip to Sacramento in 2001, Lakers coach Phil Jackson called Sacramento a cow town. He also said Kings fans were “semi-civilized” and “redneck in some form or fashion.” Later that season, when Sacramento was matched against the Lakers in...

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Umami Map: Oakland Chinatown

One of the joys of working in Old Oakland is Chinatown. We're only steps away to a wonderland of dirt-cheap eats and one-stop grocery shopping. It has taken us over a year to mine through its dense 4x3 block radius, consisting of...

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Road Trip to LA!

Everytime I go to LA, I like it more than the last time. I didn't really like LA as a teenager... maybe it was because I would have rather been blasting Head Like A Hole in my bedroom with the curtains drawn all day....