Hiroko's Blog
Stories of Japanese food, culture, travel, and the traditions that inspire Hiroko's life and work.
You can also find her posting regularly on social media.
Blog
It's Sakura Season!
Sakura! Cherry blossoms! Now, the whole population in Japan waits for the Sakura no Hana to bloom! The weather forecasts on TV announce cherry blossom forecasts along with daily weather forecasts. This helps people plan a special trip to enjoy the flowers at distant locations and arrange picnics under the Sakura no Hana at their favorite neighborhood parks and gardens. Japan experienced a cold winter this year, but the forecasts show a regular blooming schedule. Kyushu, Osaka, Tokyo – March 25, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kanazawa – March 30, Nagano, Fukuoka, Sendai, Tsuruoka – April 10 and Hokkaido and Tohoku – April 30. Japan celebrates the end and beginning of the school year during this festive time. The school year typically ends on March 25, and the new school year begins on April 5. Companies also employ freshmen at this time of the year. In Japan, you may witness young school children in their new school uniform taking trains with their formally-dressed mothers (in most cases) heading to the school where they begin their studies. No one in Japan can pass this season without having Sakura-mochi, a sweet azuki bean paste stuffed pounded sticky rice cake wrapped in salt-pickled cherry blossom leaves. Salt-pickled cherry flowers and young leaves made the year before are sold at the food stores. Restaurant chefs and home cooks use these seasonal blessings to prepare special, seasonal dishes such as Sakura no Hana Takikomigohan (rice cooked and infused with cherry flowers), Sakuramochi (sticky rice cake wrapped up in cherry leaves), and cherry leaves-wrapped grilled fish. At high-end restaurants, chefs pick and use wild cherry blossoms as a garnish for the prepared dishes to bring the very nature outside into the dining table. When the students return to my class, we will use salt-pickled cherry flowers and leaves to make bento boxes for sale at the school. My neighbour’s Sakura tree will bloom by then, so I can bring some to the classroom. Exciting!
Free Digital Book from the Japanese Culinary Academy
Anyone who wants to explore Japanese cuisine in depth can access a complete textbook for free. The book is Introduction to Japanese Cuisine: Nature, History and Culture by the Japanese Culinary Academy. Chef Yoshihiro Murata of Kikunoi restaurant in Kyoto initiated and completed the project. Contents include: Introduction to Japanese Cuisine: Nature, History and Culture Flavor and Seasonings: Dashi, Umami, and Fermented Foods Mukoita I Cutting Techniques: Fish Mukoita II Cutting Techniques: Seafood, Poultry, and Vegetables Yakiba Grilling Techniques: Shio-yaki, Furishio-yaki, Yuan-yaki, Tare-yaki, and Yakitori Click here to download the eBook, available in Japanese and English.
Using Apple Pay in Japan
Apple Pay can be used in Japan at stores displaying the EMV contactless payment symbol, apps that accept Apple Pay, and during online shopping. To use Apple Pay, hold your device over a dedicated reader. Shops and services that can be used include convenience stores, supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations and electronic stores.
Slipper Etiquette at Japanese Inns
When you stay at Japanese Inns, you are offered two to three different slippers, each with its own function. When entering a certain ryokan, you are asked to take off your shoes at the main Genkan entrance and step up onto the raised floor of the inn. You are always supplied with inside slippers, which you use to get to your room. Taking off shoes at the genkan prepares us to get into a clean, indoor space. Now you walk to your room with the slipper. This slipper’s role is to take you to the entrance to your room. You are again to take off this slipper and step up on your room's raised floor – tatami mat or wooden. Sometimes, another slipper waits for you in the room, but I ignore that in-room slipper. A toilet slipper is very important. It is a simple, plastic one that must be used and stay in the toilet all the time. Keeping clean space from non-clean space is important. You are not always taking off your shoes at the Inn’s great genkan entrance. You are led to walk to your room with your shoes on. Each room has a genkan entrance where you remove your shoes, step up on the elevated floor – tatami mat or wood, and wear slippers that wait for you. This is not the end of the slipper story. Some fancy inns have outside terraces with outside tables and chairs. To use this space, you use the supplied outside shoes, in this case it is traditional ‘geta’, a kind of sandal, made of wood and fabric. By the way, you have to wear split-toe tabi socks. All inns supply it to you. To become an expert in using different slippers requires time, money, and curiosity!
Returning to the Japanese Concentration Program
I am delighted to return to teaching the Japanese Concentration Program at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Hyde Park, in January, February, and April 2025. The Japanese Concentration Program at CIA is a 9-week Japanese Cuisine study course. It consists of Basic, Advance and Inspiration blocks. The student can earn 3 credits in each block. The program will give the students the foundation for authentically preparing Japanese cuisine from basic level to advanced, formal Kaiseki meals. The philosophy of the cuisine, key ingredients, cooking guidelines, kitchenware, seasonings, tableware, and seasonality are all explained and practiced. I also look forward to working again with Chef Murashima of Tsuji Cooking School, Osaka, Japan, for one segment. Every chef should study Japanese culinary culture for some time. There is much to learn that can improve how a chef thinks about and prepares food mindfully in any kitchen.
6 Very Useful Things to Know When Traveling to Japan
1. Bars at Japanese Country Inns Do not plan a before-dinner cocktail hour when you are staying at Japanese inns in the countryside, both traditional and modern ones. Bars at such establishments, if they do exist, tend to not open until 8pm or later after the dinner hour. The custom at these places does not seem to include the usual Western pre-dinner cocktail; I’m not sure why. In the major cities at hotels the bar is always open before dinner. Japanese country inns usually serve a fixed multi-course dinner featuring local ingredients. Often the first group of dishes – the appetizers – is served with a small glass of an aperitif such as plum wine. This is a “welcome” drink on-the-house, they say. After the meal you may find a bar. It will be crowded with people who are staying at the inn. What they are doing is called a 'nijikai', a “second round” party following the dinner. Those who want more drinks and fun after dinner gather in these usually dark and sometimes smoky bars for libation, chatting and, sometimes alcohol-induced singing. 2. Yukata or Kimono-style Gown A Japanese inn offers men and women a yukata, a kimono-style gown. It is found in your room. Today some Japanese inns may offer the customers a colorful and sometimes untraditional choice – a top and loose pants. While you are staying at the inn you are encouraged to shed your street clothes and don a yukata. Wearing this garment, you may go everywhere in the hotel, including to the dining room and even for a stroll outside in a hot springs town. The yukata is very comfortable. But after wearing one for dinner five consecutive nights at several inns, I got tired of it. At my sixth dinner I put on my travel dinner “uniform,” a casual dress. It was fine and I did not feel out of place. When you put on a yutaka, there is one rule that you must never ignore. After putting on the yukata with your arms through the sleeves – always place the right hand side of the fabric over your body with the left side of the yukata over the top of that. Doing it in the opposite way is reserved for the way in which the dead are wrapped before cremation. Women tie the obi belt that secures the yukaya, over the waistline, while men place obi a bit lower - over the hip bone. The obi is quite long. Arrange it so the knot is in front for women, and at the back, for men. And, a caution; do not attempt to run while wearing a yukata! You will expose your entire legs (and more) and you might trip. 3. Different Slippers, Different Functions At Japanese inns, you may be asked to take off your shoes when you enter the inn. They may store your shoes at the front door. You will be given a pair of slippers, and they become your in-house shoes. At some Japanese inns, rather than at the front door you are asked to take off your shoes when you enter your own room. You take off your shoes, leave them in the entry foyer of the room and use the in-room slippers you will find there. There is a further complication. If the room floor is covered in straw tatami mats, no slippers are worn – only bare feet or socks are acceptable on tatami. Most of the time, I ignore the in-room slippers and walk in my bare feet regardless of the floor covering, since the floor is always impeccably clean. To make things a bit more confusing, there is an additional pair of slippers in the toilet room. These are designated slippers for use in this space. In Japan clean areas and unclean areas are strictly separated, so don’t forget to take them off. You must never walk out of your room wearing your toilet slippers. People will stare at you if you do. 4. Train Tickets Hold onto your tickets after boarding without bending or mutilating them no matter what happens or how long your journey. It’s the system bequeathed by the British who built the first railways in Japan. You need your ticket both for entering the platform or train and for leaving the platform or station. At Japan Railway (JR) stations you can buy a card, called Suica and fill it with funds for tickets, like the Metrocard in New York or similar systems in other major cities. Put it into your wallet as the Japanese do. At the station you just touch your wallet with the card to the ticket gate and, with the built in chip, the automatic ticket gate will open. On exiting from a station, you do the same. The fare is debited from the card and the amount of cash remaining is briefly flashed at the exit gate. Cards can be recharged with more funds and the cards are good on non-JR railways and the subways as well. You can even use the card for purchases at station kiosks and convenience stores. It is a marvelously efficient and easy to use system. 5. Handkerchief After landing in Japan one of the first things you should do is buy a couple of inexpensive handkerchiefs, if you don’t already have some with you. You can find simple handkerchiefs at convenience stores, and more expensive ones at department stores including international designer brands. When you eat at casual restaurants they may serve a wet cloth, oshibori, but no paper or cloth napkins. The oshibori is too wet to put on your lap. The handkerchief is perfect for such duty. For reasons that are not at all clear, soba noodle shops do not supply napkins of any kind, so your handkerchief will be quite handy after slurping a bowl of delicious noodles. A handkerchief is also very convenient to wipe away sweat if you are out and about during the steamy, sweltering Japanese summer. One thing we never do in Japan is to blow our nose into a handkerchief. 6. Left Side Rule - Mostly Japan adopted the British railway system. Therefore, we drive on the left and even walk on the left. When it comes to escalators, it is not so straightforward. In Tokyo we stand on the left side and let the hurrying people pass us on the right. In Osaka this becomes the opposite; stand on the right. A nationwide survey found out that 57% of the population follows the Tokyo way, 13%, the Osaka way, 9.2% depend on the local situation and 12.3% simply do not let other people pass. So observe and do as the locals do in each part of Japan you are visiting.
It's now the autumn season. What are you cooking?
Are you cooking and eating seasonally and locally with healthfulness in mind? My books, The Japanese Kitchen, The Sushi Experience and Hiroko’s American Kitchen can guide you to cook delicious meals easily. The benefit of Japanese cooking is that we use far less oil than any other cuisine in the preparations. We also use less spices and herbs in cooking, so that we can enjoy the natural flavor of each ingredient. Learn more about my books > Browse seasonal recipes & cooking tips >
What is my 4th book about?
With 25 years of teaching, writing and consulting on Japanese cuisine, I entirely and finally demystified the preparation of Japanese dishes for you. This book is all about simplifying the understanding and preparation of Japanese dishes in an American home. Does this sound similar to my previous books? No. What distinguishes this book from other cookbooks is that the book explains what sets Japanese cuisine apart from other world cuisine, to easily mastered Japanese techniques and preparation and presentation guidelines. The book presents 150 new recipes, many of which you may have enjoyed seeing on Instagram (@japanesecuisineauthority). I have been cooking seasonal Japanese dishes using local ingredients in my adopted home for 26 years. I have systemized the preparations of dishes into an efficient, easy and approachable method. You will love it! I will update how this news develops. Once I know the publisher, I will post more information on this book. The Water & Fire: Spirit of Japanese Kitchen - Recipes and Techniques has another big feature. I will release what it is little by little. First, I have to find a home for my 4th creation!
Early life of Hiroko Shimbo
Hiroko Shimbo is a native of Japan. She moved to the United States in 1999 and received American citizenship in 2017. Hiroko was raised by her mother and father, first in Western Japan, and then in Tokyo from age seven. Her father, Hiromu, descended from a Samurai family, and was a physician who operated a small hospital-clinic on the ground floor of their home in Tokyo. He was a surgeon who performed procedures in the operating theater of his clinic, and with nursing staff. In later years he also provided psychological counseling for many of his patients. Hiroko Shimbo, 100 Days Old Celebration Hiroko’s mother, Tokuko, was born and raised, as was her father, in the small town of Takada City, Niigata Prefecture, on the Western Japan Sea side. Tokuko’s life was enriched by a long family history with many tales of the past including stories of cooking and exposure to Western culture and cuisine. Tokuko enjoyed a privileged upbringing as the youngest daughter of a gifted father who was a physician, a traditional poet, generous landlord, food lover, an adapter of the best of Western culture and practitioner of democracy in all aspects of his personal and professional life. These characteristics nurtured Tokuko in childhood and she grew up to be an open-minded and independent woman who cared for others, loved to cook, enjoyed every kind of good food and showed appreciation to all beings and things that touched her life. When Tokuko became the wife of a doctor in Tokyo, she played multiple roles in a busy life; wife, mother, manager of the clinic, and most importantly a cook who prepared daily meals for family, nurses and the in-patients staying at the clinic during recovery after surgery. Hiroko received all of her mother’s life lessons in her body and mind, especially those related to food and cooking. Hiroko Shimbo, Summer Festival Dressed in Kimono After graduating from Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo with a BA in education and working for a stint as a secretary at a Tokyo branch office of an American securities firm, Hiroko headed to her passion of educating and connecting people and nature through Japanese food.