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People gathered at a lit yatai street stall in Fukuoka at night

Sample journey · 10–12 days

Japan through the kitchen door: from Tokyo's markets to Fukuoka's yatai

Tokyo, Yamanashi, Osaka, Kobe, Fukuoka, Karatsu & Arita

Photo: Tracy Xu / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

In our other Japan journeys, food accompanies temples, gardens and mountain trails. Here it leads the way. We begin in Tokyo's markets and the food halls beneath its department stores, where food is sold like jewellery, then take the train to Yamanashi, fruit and wine country beneath Mount Fuji that most travellers only glimpse from a bullet-train window. In Osaka people eat standing up, at a market counter or at a small kappō bar where the cook works right in front of you; in Kobe there's a sake brewery and beef whose name is known around the world.

The second half is northern Kyushu: Fukuoka, with its ramen and evenings at the yatai, the street stalls by the river, and to finish, Karatsu and Arita, where the ceramics without which a Japanese table would be unthinkable have been made for centuries. The journey suits couples and friends who would rather spend an evening at an eight-seat counter than in a large dining room: transfers are short and mostly by train, and restaurants and time with guides would be chosen around your tastes, any allergies and how adventurous you'd like your plate to be.

The route

The journey

  1. Tokyo
  2. Yamanashi (Katsunuma & Kofu)
  3. Osaka
  4. Kobe
  5. Fukuoka
  6. Karatsu
  7. Arita
  1. A person sitting among the counters and shelves of the Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo

    01Days 1–4 · Tokyo

    Markets, basements and izakaya

    Three nights in Tokyo, beginning with an early hour at the Tsukiji Outer Market, where knives, dried fish, kombu and omelette on a stick are sold along narrow lanes. With a food guide it's much easier to understand what you're seeing: why tuna is cut just so, what makes a good dashi and where to find it. An afternoon in a depachika, the food hall beneath a department store, where fruit is wrapped like a present, and an evening in the izakaya lanes beneath the railway arches, where people eat, drink and talk late. On the second day, Kappabashi, the street of kitchen suppliers, a cooking lesson in a home, or a sushi counter with barely eight seats. This journey gives the evenings plenty of time and keeps the mornings slower.

  2. A morning view of Mount Fuji above a town in Yamanashi Prefecture

    02Days 4–6 · Yamanashi

    Wine and peaches beneath Fuji

    About an hour and a half by limited express from Shinjuku, and the Kofu basin opens up outside the window, covered in vineyards and orchards. Two nights here: around Katsunuma they grow kōshū, a local pale grape that makes a light, fresh wine well suited to Japanese food. We'd visit a few family wineries and orchards; peaches are picked here in summer and grapes in late summer and autumn, though harvest times vary a little each year. In the evening, hōtō, a thick noodle and pumpkin stew the region is proud of, and, if the sky is clear, Fuji's outline above the hills. The next day you can go closer to the mountain, to Lake Kawaguchi, or simply stay among the vines.

  3. People walking between the stalls of the covered Kuromon market in Osaka by day

    03Days 6–9 · Osaka & Kobe

    Eating until you drop

    Back by train and then west by bullet train: about four hours to Osaka, for three nights. Osakans say their city is where you eat until you drop, and a first evening in the lanes of Dōtonbori or Shinsekai bears that out: takoyaki, okonomiyaki and kushikatsu, never dipped in the sauce twice. In the morning, the Kuromon market, for a taste of sea urchin, grilled scallops or fruit; in the evening, a kappō counter where the cook works in front of you with whatever is best that day. One day goes to Kobe, around half an hour by train: in Nada, one of Japan's oldest sake districts, we visit a brewery that explains how rice, water and patience become sake, and dinner is at a teppan grill with Kobe beef.

  4. People around a yatai street stall in the Tenjin district of Fukuoka

    04Days 9–11 · Fukuoka

    Evenings at the yatai

    About two and a half hours by bullet train to Hakata Station in Fukuoka, and two nights in a city many Japanese consider the best place to eat in the country. Hakata ramen comes in a thick, milky pork broth with thin noodles, and you can ask for a second helping. The evenings belong to the yatai: after dark, street stalls line up by the river in Nakasu and Tenjin, a few seats behind a curtain, where office workers, couples and travellers sit side by side while the owner grills yakitori or simmers oden. By day, the Yanagibashi market, mentaiko (spicy cod roe), motsunabe hotpot and a walk through old Hakata and its temples. The yatai don't open every evening or in heavy rain, which is why there are always two nights here.

  5. Blue-and-white and brown patterned porcelain bowls laid upside down on a stall in Arita

    05Days 11–12 · Karatsu & Arita

    The dishes Japan eats from

    To finish, Saga Prefecture, about an hour and a half by train from Fukuoka. Karatsu ware is earthy, in browns and greys, and loved by tea masters; you can visit a few workshops and, if you like, try the wheel yourself. One night at a quiet ryokan by the sea, with a kaiseki dinner in which every course arrives on a different dish, and, time permitting, an early morning at Yobuko harbour, known for its squid. The next day, Arita, where porcelain has been made since the early seventeenth century: Tozan Shrine with its porcelain torii gate, and narrow streets of galleries and small shops where you might find a bowl that brings the whole journey back. From Arita, the train returns to Fukuoka and the flight home.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    A Tsukiji morning with a guide

    Knives, kombu and dashi: a market you'll understand quite differently with someone who speaks Japanese.

  2. 02

    Kōshū wine beneath Fuji

    Family wineries and orchards in Yamanashi: a Japan most people only pass through.

  3. 03

    Fukuoka's yatai

    A few seats behind a curtain, yakitori and conversation with your neighbours by the river.

  4. 04

    Karatsu and Arita ceramics

    Workshops where the dishes of the Japanese table are made.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • At a slower pace

    Yamanashi can be left out and longer spent in Tokyo and Osaka, giving the journey just three bases and more free evenings.

  • By season

    Late summer and autumn bring grapes, chestnuts and mushrooms; winter brings Kyushu oysters, fugu and hotpots. The kaiseki menus change with the season too.

  • With Kyoto

    Two nights in Kyoto between Yamanashi and Osaka: the Nishiki market, tofu and shōjin ryōri, the vegetarian cooking of Buddhist temples.

  • With southern Kyushu

    From Fukuoka the journey can continue to Nagasaki or the hot-spring towns; see our journey through Kyushu and Shikoku.

Practical considerations

  • Spring and autumn are usually the most pleasant; summer is hot and humid, and Kyushu is often wet in June and July. Fruit and harvest times vary from year to year.
  • Many markets and small restaurants have their own closing days, and some finish early, so we plan the days around them and check before you travel.
  • Small counters have only a few seats, so the best evenings are booked ahead. Please tell us about allergies and dietary needs from the start: Japanese dashi often contains fish.
  • The journey is planned by train; large suitcases are awkward on the bullet train, so luggage is often forwarded directly to the next hotel.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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