Art in Japan is daily living—textiles and dishes, inns and hot spring baths, gardens, seasonal celebrations, language, and etiquette. The finest art is food: making, preparing, and eating it, because the Japanese understand that each of us is a gourmand. We need to eat to live and are drawn to food that is beautiful, delicious, and made with care and warmth. In Japan, the art of food begins in the countryside.

There is a culinary revolution underway in rural Japan characterized by an explosion of high quality and innovative food products and a celebration of regional flavors made by fishermen, farmers, foragers, food craftsmen, and indie businesses working in harmony with nature to help food express itself and be the best it can be in terms of flavor and honesty of production. Their efforts are also helping to preserve and bring new life to the country’s rural heritage.

Our aim is to tell you their food stories so that you can find and enjoy them. We will also tell you about the picturesque country towns and villages where they live and work, as well as about the many inspired restaurants and inns— traditional and new—outside of Japan’s big cities.

Oishi so means "looks delicious," but a more precise translation is "looks beautifully flavored." In a country where people eat with their eyes, there is no better way to describe the seas, mountains, and farmland of Japan.

Oishi So Japan.com was launched on January 1, 2017. Please join us over the coming weeks and months as we travel across Japan’s countryside trying new foods, meeting food craftspeople, and exploring the beautifully-flavored landscape.

© 2017 Oishi So Japan