nabe
Totoro blends tradition with modern design so you can make the best rice you’ve ever tasted.
Sample some of the best regional variations of nabe and sake in a Showa-retro space at this event perfect for the middle of winter.
Move over, fall foliage forecast, and make room for this year’s predictions about the opening of hotpot season.
If you don’t have a team of sumo wrestlers to cook chanko nabe for you, will a rice cooker do the job for a one-person hot pot meal?
Menchanko-tei combines noodles with traditional sumo food for a meal that’s become popular in Japan and the United States.
The dish is unique in that all parts of the seri plant are consumed–leaves, stems, and roots included.
Is the popular milky soft drink too sweet for cooking, or the perfect addition? We find out!
Want to try Japan’s most famous hot pot, but don’t want to drop big bucks for it? Yoshinoya, plus one other amazing budget-friendly restaurant, are here to help.
“Comfort food” is traditional cooking that tends to have a nostalgic or sentimental connection, often one related to family or childhood: the grilled cheese sandwiches your mother used to make; the thought of your grandmother’s bread pudding makes your mouth water; the way the whole house would be filled with the intoxicating aroma of roasted turkey or ham at Christmas? Because of such memories, these foods comfort us, especially when we’re longing for home or feeling especially vulnerable.
Not surprisingly, the sentimental Japanese have their own comfort foods. While you might think they’d be waxing over the octopus tentacles of home, very few of the dishes we’re about to talk about have much to do with seafood. Many Japanese comfort foods have a rice connection and may even center around the unique relationship between mothers or wives and their role in family food preparation. And in Japan, make no mistake about it–her kitchen rules!
Here in Japan, we love hot pots, or nabe, especially during the cold winter months. Nabe can be cooked using a wide range of ingredients, from delicate seafood like pufferfish (fugu) to succulent wagyu beef, and they’re often served with plenty of vegetables too, so the dishes are filling and relatively healthy as well.
Now, these hot pots are usually all about savoring the various ingredients, but a reporter from our sister site Pouch found some nabe pots that are so adorable that just looking at them is bound to put a smile on your face. Yes, our favorite friends from Disney have turned themselves into pots for our dining and viewing pleasure! Even if you’re not a die-hard Disney fan, these pots are guaranteed to add some extra fun to your meal.
Cats are always sticking their noses…and heads and butts and, well, their whole bodies where they just don’t belong. Working on an important business report? Cat on the keyboard! Trying to cook? Cat face in your mixing bowl! Strange noises in your closet freaking you out at night? Cat doing…something in there. We still have no idea what.
While we all love a cute kitty, it’s impossible to avoid the fact that they simply have an innate desire to get in the way or into just about everything. One Japanese Twitter user learned this the funny way when his cat just…disappeared!
MOST POPULAR
Now
Starbucks Japan releases first-ever Hinamatsuri Girls’ Day Frappuccino
Japanese drugstore sells onigiri at pre-stupid era prices, but how do they compare to 7-Eleven?
Japanese restaurant chain serves Dragon Ball donuts and Senzu Beans this spring
Japan Extreme Budget Travel! A trip from Tokyo to Izumo for just 30,000 yen [Part 1]
Hello Kitty isn’t a cat!? We called Sanrio to find out!
Boro the Caterpillar anime now showing at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo 【SoraReview】
A whole slew of Totoro Christmas cakes are on their way to make the season extra merry【Photos】
6 surprising things about having a baby in Japan
Singaporeans are getting creative when it comes to combating the low fertility rate
Kyoto’s popular tourist spot Gion to forbid photos on private roads, 10,000 yen fine to violators
Weekly
The 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to locals
Highest Starbucks in Japan set to open this spring in the Tokyo sky
Tokyo Skytree turns pink for the cherry blossom season
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s new “Cunte” contact lenses aren’t pronounced like you’re probably thinking they are
Shibuya Station’s Hachiko Gate and Yamanote Line stairway locations change next month
Yakuzen ramen restaurant in Tokyo is very different to a yakuza ramen restaurant
Starbucks Japan adds new sakura Frappuccino and cherry blossom drinks to the menu
Japan just had its first same-month foreign tourist decrease in four years
Burning through cash just to throw things away tops list of headaches when moving house in Japan
Monthly
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]- Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Foreigners accounting for over 80 percent of off-course skiers needing rescue in Japan’s Hokkaido
Super-salty pizza sends six kids to the hospital in Japan, linguistics blamed
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2026
Foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets to promote regional tourism- The 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to locals
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
Naruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Is China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting the lines at a popular Tokyo gyukatsu restaurant?
Yearly
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home- Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
- Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
RECOMMENDED STORIES
Boro the Caterpillar anime now showing at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo 【SoraReview】
A whole slew of Totoro Christmas cakes are on their way to make the season extra merry【Photos】
6 surprising things about having a baby in Japan
Singaporeans are getting creative when it comes to combating the low fertility rate
Kyoto’s popular tourist spot Gion to forbid photos on private roads, 10,000 yen fine to violators
School Lunch in Japan 【You, Me, And A Tanuki】
Tokyo art gallery encourages visitors to steal its art
7-Eleven Japan’s sakura sweets season is underway right now!
Popular Japanese ramen restaurant Ichiran’s lucky bags are great value for money
This Japanese capsule hotel tells you how many times you snore during the night
KFC Japan opens a Christmas restaurant in Tokyo…but why???
We hung out at one of Tokyo’s most popular pickup spots, drank our hearts out and met many men
Crazy Tokyo bar rewards you with free drinks for accurate ax throwing, offers shuriken option
-
