I went to Japan for a week in March 2025. Here are a few scenes from the trip.
Yukiya, Niigata
I stood outside, clutching tentatively to a clear plastic umbrella splayed overhead, the pitter-patter of raindrops setting a drumbeat for the night sky's first stars marching forth. Am I even allowed to be here? Would I be welcomed, accepted? There is a couple in the restaurant already. They seem halfway through a meal. Would a solo diner at this time be an inconvenience?
I turned around, about to leave. Then another couple arrived and walked in. And I followed.
I'm glad I did.
- Hotaru Ika (firefly squid)
- Hirame (olive flounder)
- Yari Ika (spear squid)
- Uni (sea urchin)
- Hotate (scallop)
- Sayori (Japanese halfbeak)
- Sayori no kawa (Skin of the Japanese halfbeak)
- Nodoguro (Blackthroat seaperch)
- Otoro (fatty tuna)
- Amaeba (sweet shrimp)
- Yari Ika (??)
- Kohada (gizzard shad)
- Anago (saltwater eel)
- Nihamaguri
The sushiyasan was incredibly welcoming. He patiently explained to me each piece each piece I ate.
I was the first Canadian he'd served, he said.
Eventually he broke the ice between me and the couple who walked in at the same time. They were a medical power couple -- an orthoopedic surgeon and a physical therapist. No wonder they were having a casual omakase dinner on a random rainy Wednesday night.
If you are ever in Niigata looking for an exceedingly authentic omakase meal, I would recommend Yukiya in a heartbeat.
Tsukioka Onsen
I stayed at Shiratama no Yu Senkei, one of the ryokan in Tsukioka Onsen. Several things about this experience caught me off guard, but one thing I saw plenty of: authenticity.
For how much I paid for the room, I would have expected something a bit more modern and renovated. And although it was a beautiful room...
I couldn't help but notice that so many details about this place were just subtly off. This place seemed to, subtly, fall short of the Japanese tendency to give a shit that I had experienced in Tokyo. A pillar in my room was falling apart. The TV they put in the corner reminded me of the computer monitors I used to use in the 2000s. Several areas of the hotel were cordoned away, or unlit. Signs around the hotel had lettering that was falling off. It was a picture of decay.
At dinnertime, the fish was not as fresh or as varied as what I ate in Niigata.