Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture
I am researching for my next visit to Japan (hurray!), so from that POV -from a first-time visitor- I don't think it is a big help. Or maybe I have done such a well research so far it was like re-reading the information. For example, the author talks about ekiben, onsen, geisha... which I just read in forums and blogs and other books (it is not the author's fault, all of this is from my perspective).On the other hand, his experiences and interaction with different cooks were very informative. I may have liked the one last the best, only because it is in the country side and I may like the country side more than the city. The author went from North (Hokkaido) to South (Fukuoka) to West (Noto) to East (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka). More fancy food than street food. There were times when his narration was a bit too flowery for my taste... when I am reading a non-fiction book I prefer plain facts rather than flowers. Mostly I did not like the author's voice. But I quite liked the history parts, though.
Most pictures were mouth-watering (like ekibens). Beware!
