Tsukiji Tour
Tsukiji Tour photo by Jun Takagi from Budget Travel April 2009.
Born in Tokyo and raised on the shores of Lake Wobegon, Yukari Sakamoto trained as a chef and baker at the French Culinary Institute. Following that she trained as a sommelier at The American Sommelier Association and worked as a sommelier at the New York Bar and Grill in the Park Hyatt Tokyo. She also worked at Takashimaya’s flagship store in Nihonbashi as a sommelier in the sake department of the depachika. While at Takashimaya she passed the exam to be a shochu advisor. Shochu is a distilled spirit native to Japan. She is married to Shinji Sakamoto, a former buyer at Tsukiji Market.
Her first book, Food Sake Tokyo, is published by The Little Bookroom as a part of the Terroir Guides. It is a food lover’s guide to Japanese cuisine and introduces restaurants and food shops in Tokyo. There is also a chapter on Kyoto’s Nishiki Market. The first half of the book focuses on the food and beverages of Japan. The second half selects some of Tokyo’s popular destinations by station and includes foodie destinations not to be missed in that area.
Any changes to information in Food Sake Tokyo, that I am aware of, will be posted here. Please search under “updates”. If you are traveling to Tokyo you may find information here. Searches can be done by station name such as “Ginza”, “restaurants”, or “shops”.
My other blog focuses on cooking Japanese food at home, but also includes some of my favorite food shops and restaurants in Tokyo.
I am represented by Lisa Ekus.
I am represented by Lisa Ekus.
Hi Yuakri,
I was happy to read that you enjoy trips to Mashiko and that you love food.
I am a Canadian living in Mashiko. I have just recently created a web site about restaurants in Mashiko aimed at foreigners coming here to enjoy the town. As you may have found, there is a lack of information about Mashiko for foreigners despite the fact that it is internationally famous for pottery, and many people like you come here to check it out. I thought that I should do my part to make visitors time here more enjoyable, if possible.
Please take a look at my site and if you think that it would be useful to people visiting Mashiko, I would appreciate it if you would add it to your links.
http://www.mashiko-restaurant-guide.com/
Thanks.
- Chris
You are so lucky to be living in Mashiko. I can only imagine the different pottery you have picked up over time.
Yukari-this is simply an amazing guide! It is so detailed, helpful addresses, tel numbers, great photographs and descriptors -why don’t you create a guide book for Kappabashi! I also recently found a Paris foodie website which is run by a person who offers culinary tours of the city – is that something that you could do for foodies who visit Tokyo?
Thanks so much for a great site-looking forward to more!
J
Dear Julie-san,
Thanks for your kind words. My book on food shops in Tokyo is coming out later this spring/early summer. It will have a guide to Kappabashi and twelve other neighborhoods in Tokyo. I do tours of Tsukiji, Kappabashi, and depachika.
Look forward to when our paths cross next. I think we last met at a FEW meeting in Tokyo.
Cheers,
Yukari
I just found your blog, and it’s great! I live in Gifu, in a town called Gujo Hachiman, and I plan to visit Gero soon. I write about food and culture in Japan as well. Maybe we can collaborate some time. We also have the same last name, which blows my mind.
http://www.idratherbe.tv/injapan
Hi Yukari
Would like to congratulate you on your great new book Food Sake Tokyo – I wish I had had it with me on my recent research trip to Tokyo to update my Rough Guides to Japan and Tokyo – I’m planning on including a short review of it in the new editions of the guides and am interested to read that you also conduct culinary tours of the city – if you send me details of how people may arrange these with you I can add that to the section we have in the Tokyo guide about learning more about Japanese cuisine.
Also if you have the time I’d love to do a short Q & A with you for my Japan blog on my website – see http://www.simonrichmond.com
Hope to hear from you soon. Kind regards
Simon RIchmond
Hi Yukari-san,
My family (two daughters and my wife) will be in Japan later this month, and your book was a tremendous find! It led to this great blog too with great pictures and descriptions. We are foodies here in the San Francisco area, and it is so nice to have this guide so that we can get the best of food in Tokyo. The book is extremely well written! Thanks again!
Just got the book it looks fantastic! Can’t wait to really dive into it. The photos have a beautiful color quality reminiscent of kodak or printing in the sixties, I love it. I’m also glad to hear you think Isetan shinjuku is the best depachika because my girlfriend and I were floored when we went there, I’m going to guess that maybe one of the worlds greatest grocer/food department store.
Thanks for the kind words. Yes, hands down Isetan is the best in Japan, and you are right, probably the best in the world. Cheers! Yukari
Hi Yukari,
My wife and I will be in Tokyo in February 2011 (a good time to be out of Canada!). As we found your book immensely informative, we were thrilled to read that you offer guided tours of the Tsukiji market and depachika. As we found no other way of contacting you directly, we were wondering whether you could respond to the Email address provided with this comment. At any event, congratulations on publishing such a fantastic guidebook on one of the culinary capitals of the world.
Hello Yukari, first of all I want to thank you for your fantastic blog, it is really helpful and very very interesting.
I am looking for “matcha” specialists in Tokyo, a place where I can learn to make Japanese sweets with “matcha” (it can be a school, a shop or any other place). Any recommendation?
Thank you again!
Isabel
I just bought your book and I am so excited to devour it! I’m coming to Tokyo in March 2011 to visit a friend, so I can’t wait to see (and eat) what you suggest. I am also interested in the tours, if possible. Thanks!
Even a seasoned Tokyo hand like me, (I have lived in Japan for a total of 10 years over the last 38) found wonderful new places to go and delicious food to eat. Some of the stores and restaurants that you mention have been my favorites for years – I just saw them in a new light. I have suggested to many of my Japanese friends that they get this book too as there are plenty of spots they are unfamiliar with. One friend, a real Edo-ko took me to lunch at Yoshikami, famous for Japanese style Western food – and there is was in your book, perfectly described.
Debra
Hello Yukari,
I am visiting Tokyo in October (2011). Do you know if it is possible to find any japanese cooking classes for one day/half a day?
Best rgds,
Eva, Stockholm,Sweden
Just got back from a two week trip to Tokyo and Kyoto. My wife and I used your book the whole time in Tokyo. It was invaluable. The recommendations were great and so were the directions. It was surprisingly hard to find places in Tokyo even with GPS and maps. Our friends who lived there also liked it and bought a copy for themselves. We’re looking forward to going back.
Arigato! Thank you so much for your kind words. I am so happy that the book helped. Let me know if you need help on your next trip. Yes, very hard to find places as there are no street addresses. Cheers, Yukari