autumn

Mikie Watanabe, cultural adaptation specialist with Marine Corps Community Services, took 20 Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni residents on a journey to learn more about local Japanese restaurants and grocery stores at Fresta Mall in Iwakuni City, Friday, September 20, 2019.

It may sound weird, but our obsession with the tasty small fish had grown since our shirasu-don lunch earlier on Enoshima Island. So, it was only natural that the signboard for the hotdogs featuring the regional specialty would draw our attention.

There are few things more refreshing than sipping a cold beer on a sandy beach in Kamakura or while enjoying the panoramic vista from an Enoshima restaurant.

If you visit Nakamise shopping street, you’re sure to come across the Japanese Tea House Hello Kitty Saryo Enoshima. If you don’t have time to stop for a sit-down lunch, the location also offers a “take out” counter serving up various Hello Kitty-themed drinks and sweets.

You would be forgiven for thinking that senbei rice crackers were the ninja of Japanese food.

You can’t even talk about – much less taste – Okinawan food without letting soybeans, or a soy-based delicacy, cross your lips. Soybeans really are “the magical fruit” here where traditional wisdom transforms them into a myriad of foods with a variety of colors, shapes and smells.