The TokyoNerd Official Blog

I love tea. With no relation to the fact that I’m a Japanophile , I love tea. Ever since I was young, I’ve never really liked coffee, so when it was cold outside I would (for the most part) drink tea. Ever since moving to the land of the rising sun , I’ve tried many varieties of Japanese tea that aren’t in other countries and throughout doing so, have come to enjoy tea all the more. In Japan, there are a number of regions known for its tea. Two of those regions are Kyoto prefecture and Shizuoka prefecture. As I’m sure you may know, tea is made from tea leaves. These leaves are picked and then processed into tea. There are a few places across Japan (for a slight fee) in where you can pick tea leaves yourself and bring them home with you. I’ve wanted to pick  tea leaves for some time now, so in May I headed to Shizuoka prefecture and did just that! Seeing as I was going to go all the way to Shizuoka prefecture, I decided to make a bit of a trip out of it and spent 3 days exploring

When one thinks of Japanese food, 寿司  ( sushi ) is what comes to mind. ラーメン  ( ramen ) shops are starting to pop up across the world, and this noodle dish is becoming more and more popular. Japanese people used to have an image of eating nothing but seafood, but now with ramen and other dishes gaining popularity across the globe, it seems that there are people from a number of countries who visit Japan to eat a variety of Japanese foods. One Japanese dish that I don’t think is that popular outside of Japan is 親子丼  ( oyakodon ), a bowl of rice with chicken and egg on top. The character 親  ( oya ) means parent, 子  ( ko ) means child, so oyakodon literally translates as parent and child bowl. Oyakodon is a rather easy meal to make, so you often find it at cheap 蕎麦  ( soba ), or buckwheat noodle, restaurants and at a number of restaurants serving cheap set meals.   Living in Tokyo I’ve eaten this dish at a number of restaurants across the city. As I mentioned, oyakodon is an