Food Experiences

Fumi was incredibly nice. Everything was extremely clean, neat and organized. The food was delicious and the cooking process was fun and easy. Recipes are provided at the end. Highly recommended!

This was a fantastic experience! Koichi and Kyoko are very kind people with a lovely home. It was very kind of them to pick us up at the train station. The tour was very informative, and we enjoyed picking tea leaves. There's something special about eating something that you picked. The food was incredibly gourmet. I recommend this experience to anyone.

The miso experience was so fun and hands on! I learned various interesting facts about miso that I never knew before. Getting my hands dirty and knowing that it will be my original miso makes me more excited to taste the miso after it is fully fermented. The staff were so easy to talk to and I had many amazing conversations with them and learned so much about their store's concept and their love for their products. Being able to taste various miso also broadened my taste buds and made me realize that there are much more complex flavors and varieties of miso that I should try in the future. I was also able to try different flavors of amazake, a sweet fermented rice drink, which I didn't know existed. I knew of the original flavor, but I never thought adding different flavors would make amazake more versatile. The store is quite small, but it felt welcoming and warm both outside and inside. It made anyone who stepped inside feel like they were in a small homey welcoming atmosphere where they could relax and enjoy their time. Everything about the store and the experience was amazing. Getting there was easy, and finding it was straightforward. If I am ever back in that area, I would definitely return to try more of their products.

This was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had! I happened to meet the owner on Threads while posting about Japan, and learned she had a Ramen experience that took place at both her brother’s 3rd generation ramen factory and her house for dinner. We got to try their grandpa’s original ramen after flattening it and cutting it ourselves, as well as try salad, gyoza, and pork ramen soup that were all their mother’s and grand mother’s recipes. She even took care to make sure my mom’s shellfish allergy wasn’t an issue! We spent 5 hours with this kind family, had amazing and deep conversations about cultural similarities and differences, and even got to meet the family’s children, neighbor, and dogs! It was such a soulful experience and I cannot recommend enough. Might be the best experience I’ve ever had in Japan!

The lesson moved at a great pace, which felt really comfortable! And the taste? Absolutely perfect! 👍 I loved how the instruction was tailored to my preferences and how carefully the flavors were checked along the way—it was fantastic! For the mushroom mixed rice, the dashi stock made from dried shiitake mushrooms and kombu was excellent. We cooked it in a pot, so we even got to enjoy the crispy, caramelized rice crust (*okoge*) at the bottom! Turning the used kombu into *furikake* seasoning was a delicious example of eco-friendly cooking! Tomoko-sensei’s homemade pickled *koume* plums paired perfectly with the rice—it was incredibly delicious! Then there was the tofu steak! With that all-purpose sauce, making a steak is a breeze—a truly superb dish! The potato potage was also easy to make and delicious. 😋 Adding a dash of cinnamon to change up the flavor was a brand-new experience for me! I devoured it in no time! Next was the stir-fried eggplant with miso. Mmm, so tasty! The hand-torn shiso leaves added a lovely accent. The lesson was packed with treats—Tomoko-sensei’s homemade salad, plum wine, plum juice, and matcha jelly—leaving me completely satisfied! Above all, it was such a fun time, filled with wonderful hospitality! The food was delicious, of course, but the conversation while cooking was just so much fun. It feels like that positive energy is infused right into the dishes! I’d love to sign up for another class!

The Tour was great and Keigo (Guide) is very fun and nice to talk to. I can highly recommend! The food is very delicious!

Rina did a wonderful job working with more college students from the same organization, making the cooking lesson fresh while making sure the different sessions had an excellent core experience!

Nana-san was an amazing guide who translated everything perfectly into English! The staff and faculty of Aoi seicha were very kind, generous, and explained everything in simple easy-to-understand terms. Everyone was very accommodating and I couldn’t have ask for more. Thank you again for an amazing experience!

Rina was an excellent teacher: patient, knowledgeable, and very engaging! We had a great time!

This private tea ceremony was a highlight of our trip to Japan. The house and garden are lovely. The host, Naomi, shared the culture and tradition of the tea ceremony in a manner that was both respectful and accessible to visitors to Japan. We left feeling calm and refreshed. We highly recommend this tea ceremony!

Great, hands-on, experience at a long standing Miso business. Warm and friendly hosts who do a great job of explaining the process and history of miso (through an interpreter or translation apps). Come ready to get your hands dirty and leave with enough miso to last a long while.

Our wonderful hosts showed us how tea is processed from bush to drink and made us 2 stunning seasonal meals using tea in different forms that we had picked ourselves. A unique experience in the Japanese countryside We appreciated the warm hospitality