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Once a month, usually on a Saturday, I'd head to Tsukiji, the worlds largest fish market to stock my refrigerator often in preparation for a BBQ with friends. Sadly, the market will leave its current site later this year for a new one further away from the centre of the city. The market consists of an inner and outer section, the "inner" being a wholesale market for professionals and the outer for the general public. In the outer market you can buy not just fish but also meat, vegetables and an array of condiments and cooking utensils at bargain basement...

Sashimi, presented on ice at Marugin, Minami, Osaka.

Tsubo has two meanings it can refer to a vessel or be used as a measure with one tsubo equal to 3.3 square metres or two tatatmi mats. In a country where space in the cities comes at a premium a style of garden known as "tsuboniwa" developed. These pocket sized gardens are found in many older houses particularly in Kyoto. They vary in size and taste but are usually enclosed on all sides and are simple in their beauty. The attached photo is from Kyoto taken in Muromachi Doori and is typical of "tsuboniwa" in Kyoto. 

Are you looking for the quintessential sushi experience? Try Fukukizushi in Osaka. The restaurant dates from arounnd the 1930s and has branches in select locations including the 7th F of the department store Takashimaya in Namba. The "honten" or main store near Nihonbashi station offers you a front row seat in a sushi making performance that is part art part theatre. Let me be clear it is expensive. If you order "otoro" and other expensive items expect to pay top dollar. The father/son show and supporting cast produce some of the best sushi in Osaka if not Japan. It compares...

Tucked away in the back streets of Minami in downtown Osaka is a narrow alley, paved with stone named Hozenji Yokocho. The alley is full of bars and restaurants, a scene that can be found in many Japanese cities. I've been walking along this alley on and off for 30 years now and little has changed. One restaurant that stands out in the alley is Wasabi, a small restaurant that specilaises in "kushikatsu" a local delicacy of deep fried food on skewers. Kushikatsu's origins is cheap deep fried food for the labourers of Osaka, particularly in the area known as...