About the Author: Chris P King

Hi, I’m Chris P King

I’m the founder and author of Food Tours Japan, where I write detailed guides to Japanese food tours, cooking classes, and culinary travel experiences, supported by my own photography.

I’ve spent the past 12 years living in and travelling throughout Japan, exploring its cities, regions, food, and culture in depth.

I don’t write about Japan from the outside looking in, but from having built a life there. I lived in Japan for a decade and raised a family there.

Throughout this time, I’ve joined over 50 guided food and drink activities and had countless culinary adventures of my own. I created Food Tours Japan from those first-hand experiences. Read the story behind Food Tours Japan.

My 12-Year Journey in Japan

I arrived in Japan in April 2014 and got married two days later. Now, that’s a long story for another time!

First arrival and marriage in 2014

On my first full day in Japan, I dived straight into delicious seafood and Osaka’s classic ‘konamon’ (flour-based) dishes in Dotonbori. From tarabagani (king crab) to takoyaki, I sampled dish after dish and loved every one.

The next morning, my auntie, whom I had met only minutes earlier, dressed me in a kuromontsuki haori hakama, the most formal style of men’s kimono, for our wedding day. For lunch, we feasted on a sumptuous kaiseki banquet that included Ise-ebi (Japanese spiny lobster), wagyu, abalone, sashimi, a light dashi-based soup, an intricate set of starters and, of course, rice.

In less than 24 hours, I had gone from eating beneath the neon lights of Japan’s most famous night-time food district to kaiseki — Japan’s elegant, seasonal multi-course haute cuisine.

Here I was in Japan, married and already knee-deep in its food and travel culture, which would unknowingly shape the years to come.

Honeymoon

For our honeymoon, we travelled from Osaka to Kyoto, then to Koyasan, before finishing in Hiroshima and Miyajima Island.

Kyoto introduced me to Fushimi Inari Taisha, which I still love to this day, along with zen temples and ryokan evenings over hotpots. A temple stay and plant-based shojin ryori defined Koyasan’s peace and tranquillity. Miyajima Island offered coastal reflection, rounded off with Hiroshima oysters by the sea.

A decade of living, eating, drinking, and travelling in Japan

Over the 10 years I lived in Japan, my life evolved through different places and stages, including around a year spent travelling and living in other parts of the country.

Discovering Japan by train

Early on, I criss-crossed Japan with Japan Rail Passes, exploring new regions one train ride at a time and enjoying whatever local food and drink specialities I could find. All told, I spent two months on the rails.

On the final trip, I satisfied my inner train nerd and rode every Shinkansen line and every type of Shinkansen train.

In Wakkanai, Japan’s northernmost city, I tried shirako (fish sperm sacs) for the first time — and didn’t touch it again for over six years! In Kagoshima, down in the far south, I ate kibinago (sprat), a local delicacy.

Those trips helped me find some of my favourite food-and-drink cities, like Kanazawa for its rich seafood, and Sapporo for miso ramen, soup curry, jingisukan (lamb BBQ), and Hokkaido’s bounty from the sea.

Early travels: from Okinawa’s subtropical islands to the world’s biggest metropolis

One of my most memorable trips was island-hopping to some of Okinawa’s less-travelled islands. It was my first time trying taco rice, umibudo (sea grapes), and Orion beer. On Miyako-jima (take me back), my first son took his first steps.

On my first trip to Tokyo, I saw the tuna auction at Tsukiji Market and visited the wholesale seafood market, which feels a world away from its newer home at Toyosu. I also ate yakitori at Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane) and bar-hopped late at night in the labyrinth of Golden Gai.

We also took some family trips to Yunoko Onsen in Kyushu, where I spent full weekends enjoying onsen and kaiseki. On the way home, we stopped in Hakata for tonkotsu ramen and Itoshima’s oyster huts.

Kuidaore: eating myself bankrupt in Osaka

Back in my home city of Osaka, ‘kuidaore’ (eat yourself bankrupt) sums up the local obsession with food. I quickly found it’s an actual lifestyle, not a saying.

As my life in Japan settled into a routine, I got well acquainted with the seasonal delights at my favourite local izakaya, as well as Minami’s (south-central Osaka) neon-lit back alleys for tachinomiya (standing bar) nights and all manner of eats.

A handful of times, I went to high-end kappo restaurants too. Exquisite seasonal dishes and the finest sake, but still counter-style and relaxed. That’s uniquely Osaka.

With family and friends, it was an endless stream of food and drink, from festivals and the city’s best ramen to okonomiyaki evenings and osechi to ring in the New Year.

The soul of Japan: nature and the good life in Nara

We moved to Nara Prefecture, just one stop from Osaka, where the city quickly gives way to mountains and a slower pace. Both our children attended a mountain nursery school here, where they spent every day surrounded by nature.

Nara life was more earthy and rustic. I loved our traditional Japanese house with wooden features throughout, tatami-mat floors and a garden.

Food felt more seasonal and home-cooked here. We used organic vegetables and edible mountain plants, and we made ume (plum syrup) from plums in the garden. Some weekends with my fellow dad friends, I went fishing in Osaka Bay and tried new izakayas in Nara.

In Nara City, my wife and I celebrated a wedding anniversary at a restaurant specialising in Yamato Yasai (Nara vegetables) and Yamato-gyu (Nara wagyu). I also discovered my favourite sake at a wonderful sake bar that only stocked Nara sake.

I felt the soul of Japan most in Nara, from a daikon matsuri (Japanese radish festival) at our local temple to eating the best persimmons as the seasons shifted in our nature-inspired life on the mountain.

Hokkaido: majestic northern scenery meets divine produce

Hokkaido hooked me on my early trips with its delicious dishes—seafood at Hakodate Morning Market, kaisendon (seafood bowl) in Otaru, and Sapporo’s dishes I mentioned above—plus the stunning wintry landscapes. Ask any Japanese person where their favourite food is from, and Hokkaido will win hands down.

Little did I know then that I’d get to spend three extraordinary family summers in Hokkaido. I love Hokkaido in so many ways: for those wonderful memories, the outstanding nature and scenery, the indigenous Ainu culture, the warm and friendly people, and of course, the incredible food.

Those summers spent with my young family made Hokkaido feel more like a second home than a destination. What started as a way to escape Kansai’s insufferable heat and humidity became a series of adventures under big skies, along rugged coastlines, through abundant nature, past glistening lakes, towering mountains, and rolling countryside that reminded me of England.

The one constant was the excellent quality locally sourced seafood, vegetables, fruit, sweets, and all manner of produce. Above all else, we settled into Hokkaido’s slower rhythm of life, coming away with unforgettable memories that’ll last a lifetime.