Chef Shiro Kashiba, more than anyone else, embodies the Seattle sushi scene. From his early days making sushi at Maneki in the late 1960s to his current job serving sushi at the swanky Sushi Kashiba across from the Inn at the Market, Chef Shiro has helped guide Seattle’s sushi history. At 77, he’s still innovating. Of course, former boss Jiro Ono (of Jiro Dreams...
Seattle’s love affair with sushi started in the back bar of Maneki Restaurant in the late 1960s. There, a young Shiro Kashiba started serving nigiri sushi to the delighted patrons. Until that point, most Americans had an aversion to raw fish. But, as we all know now, that aversion would disappear over the ensuing decades. Today, Maneki is still going strong; Chef Kashiba has...
There are about 250,000 sushi restaurants in Japan, but if you count the number of izakaya and other restaurants that have sushi on their menus, the buy is much, much higher. For its first century or so, sushi was a Tokyo-centric dish. Edomae sushi was focused on the fish in Edo (now Tokyo) Bay. Then the devastation of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake sparked...
In 1865, Seishichi Fujiya opened a Japanese sweets shop on Shichijo-dori in Kyoto. More than 150 years later, the confectioner is still there selling traditional. Despite its long history, Shichijo-Kansyundo is not bogged down by tradition. The current president has created a unique line of Kyogashi, or Kyoto- style sweets. Shichijo-Kansyundo has three stores in Kyoto. The main store has a café right next...
Capture your memories with paper and pen on your next trip. You’ll thank yourself years later, when you pick up the notebook and immediately travel in time back to that wonderful trip you once took. This Traveler’s Notebook is made in a small factory in the Nakameguro neighborhood of Tokyo. It was made with the traveler in mind. The carefully tanned leather cover feels...
As the name “Pure Malt” suggests, the pen uses material from whiskey- making. Whiskey is often aged in barrels made of 100-year-old oak; those barrels can be in use for as much as 60 years. The Pure Malt SS2005 is made from the whiskey barrels. Because they are made from the panels of the aged whiskey barrels, each ballpoint pen has a slightly different...
JAPANESE TEA NEEDS TO BE BREWED at just the right temperature to bring out its umami and fragrance. This can take a lot of work, which is why bottled tea is so poular in Japan. Thé D’or is the exception, a bottled tea that successfully brings out to the fullest the true umami and fragrance of Japanese green tea and then bottles the tea...
The first mentions of rice date back to the fifth century BC. But in the early days, it was a luxury food meant only for aristocracy and later the samurai class. The rest of Japan ate barley or millet. About 100 years ago, around the same time that Zojirushi was founded, rice became a staple food for everyone in Japan. The company’s first product...
Anyone who’s done business in Japan knows how important first impressions are. Your first encounter with a person often revolves around the business card, or meishi, exchange. If the person you are meeting is higher ranking than you, let them initiate the exchange. If you’re on equal status, either party can start the exchange. Also, if you’re sitting at a table, don’t put your...
JAPANESE LACQUERWARE has long fascinated the West. When Christian missionaries first came across urushi lacquerware in Japan during the 16th century, they were so impressed with it, they brought pieces back to Europe and called the unique products “Japan.” Centuries later, more than 70 pieces were discovered in churches and monasteries in Spain. In the 18th century, urushi products were in vogue among European...
