Quick answer: Japanese food is built around rice, soup and small side dishes, flavoured with dashi, soy sauce and miso. Try ramen, soba and udon, sushi and sashimi, tofu dishes and seasonal sweets. Drink sake, shochu or umeshu if you are 20 or older. For quick meals, use convenience stores and fast-food chains like Yoshinoya or MOS Burger.
Last updated: 22 Oct 2026, by Spiddy Ng
Table of contents
- What is a traditional Japanese breakfast and meal?
- What is the difference between ramen, soba, udon and saimin?
- Where did sushi come from, and why do Japanese people eat raw fish?
- What Japanese food is good for picky eaters?
- What are the main types of Japanese tofu?
- Which alcoholic drinks are native to Japan?
- What do Japanese people eat at New Year?
- Which Japanese desserts and snacks should you try?
- Which Japanese fast-food chains are worth knowing?
- How is Japanese food different from Chinese and Western food?
- Which Japanese foods are considered luxuries?
- How do you cook Japanese rice in a rice cooker?
- Which Japan Truly guide answers your question?
- Frequently asked questions
1. What is a traditional Japanese breakfast and meal?
A traditional Japanese meal follows the ichiju sansai pattern: rice, one soup and three side dishes, with pickles on the side. Breakfast, lunch and dinner use the same building blocks in different sizes.
| Meal | Typical dishes |
|---|---|
| Breakfast (asagohan) | Steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish (yakizakana), natto, tamagoyaki, nori, pickles (tsukemono), green tea. Toast and coffee are also common today. |
| Lunch (hirugohan) | Bento boxes, noodle bowls, donburi such as gyudon or oyakodon, set meals (teishoku) |
| Dinner (bangohan) | Rice and miso soup with a grilled dish (yakimono), a simmered dish (nimono), sashimi or tempura, a vinegared side (sunomono), pickles |
| Formal (kaiseki) | A seasonal multi-course meal ending with rice, soup, pickles and a Japanese sweet (wagashi) |
Before eating, people say itadakimasu; after, gochisousama deshita. For more table manners, see our Japanese culture and etiquette guide.
2. What is the difference between ramen, soba, udon and saimin?
| Noodle | Made from | Texture | How it is served |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ramen | Wheat flour and kansui (alkaline water) | Springy, yellowish | Hot, in shoyu, miso, shio or tonkotsu broth, with toppings such as chashu, egg and nori |
| Soba | Buckwheat (often mixed with wheat) | Thin, firm, earthy | Cold with a dipping sauce (zaru soba) or hot in broth; regional styles include Izumo soba and cha soba |
| Udon | Wheat flour, water, salt | Thick, soft, chewy | Hot in mild dashi broth or cold; Sanuki udon from Kagawa is the best known |
| Saimin | Wheat flour and egg | Soft, thin | A Hawaiian noodle soup that grew out of the islands' Japanese, Chinese and Filipino plantation communities, with a light dashi-style broth and toppings like kamaboko and Spam |
Want to try ramen in Japan? See our Ichiran ramen menu guide. At home, start with our best Japanese instant ramen picks.
3. Where did sushi come from, and why do Japanese people eat raw fish?
The earliest form of sushi was narezushi, fish preserved in fermented rice. The technique came to Japan from mainland Asia. Over centuries Japan shortened the fermentation, added vinegar to the rice, and in Edo (now Tokyo) created nigiri: fresh fish pressed onto vinegared rice. That is the sushi that later spread around the world.
Japanese people eat raw fish because Japan is an island nation with ready access to fresh seafood, and its cooking values the natural taste of ingredients. Sashimi-grade fish is handled with strict freshness and cold-chain practices, and wasabi, ginger and soy sauce are traditional accompaniments.
| Raw-fish dish | What it is |
|---|---|
| Sashimi | Sliced raw fish or seafood, without rice |
| Nigiri | Hand-pressed vinegared rice topped with fish |
| Kaisendon | A rice bowl topped with assorted raw seafood |
| Tataki | Fish (often bonito) seared outside and raw inside |
4. What Japanese food is good for picky eaters?
Plenty of Japanese dishes need no adventurous palate. These are familiar, mild and easy to find:
| Dish | Why picky eaters like it |
|---|---|
| Japanese curry rice | Mild, thick, slightly sweet curry over rice (see the best Japanese curry brands) |
| Karaage | Bite-size fried chicken |
| Omurice | Fried rice wrapped in an omelette with ketchup |
| Gyoza | Pan-fried dumplings |
| Yakitori | Grilled chicken skewers, with salt or sweet tare sauce |
| Salmon teriyaki, tamagoyaki, okonomiyaki, yakiniku, mochi ice cream | Sweet-savoury, grilled or simple flavours |
Convenience stores are another safe bet: see the best Japanese convenience-store food.
5. What are the main types of Japanese tofu?
| Tofu | Texture | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Kinu (silken) | Smooth, soft | Hiyayakko (chilled tofu), miso soup |
| Momen (firm) | Coarser, holds its shape | Stir-fries, nabe, mapo tofu |
| Atsuage | Thick deep-fried block | Grilled or simmered |
| Aburaage | Thin fried pouch | Inari sushi, kitsune udon, miso soup |
| Yuba | Delicate skin from heated soy milk | Kyoto cuisine, temple food |
| Goma-dofu | Sesame and kudzu, not soy | Buddhist vegetarian cuisine (shojin ryori) |
| Koya-dofu | Freeze-dried, spongy | Simmered in dashi |
Popular dishes include agedashi tofu, yudofu (simmered tofu) and ganmodoki (fried tofu fritters).
6. Which alcoholic drinks are native to Japan?
The legal drinking age in Japan is 20.
| Drink | What it is |
|---|---|
| Sake (nihonshu) | Brewed from polished rice, koji and water; served chilled, room temperature or warm |
| Shochu | A distilled spirit from barley, sweet potato, rice or other bases |
| Awamori | Okinawa's distilled rice spirit |
| Umeshu | Ume fruit steeped in liquor and sugar |
| Yuzushu and momoshu | Fruit liqueurs made with yuzu citrus or peach |
| Chuhai | Shochu or another spirit mixed with soda and fruit flavour; sold in cans everywhere |
| Happoshu | A beer-like drink brewed with less malt than standard beer |
| Japanese whisky | Whisky made in Japan in the Scotch tradition |
| Amazake | A sweet, thick rice drink; the koji version has no alcohol |
Many drinkers reach for a hangover drink before a night out: see our Ukon no Chikara review.
7. What do Japanese people eat at New Year?
| When | Food | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Eve (Omisoka) | Toshikoshi soba | Long noodles that are easy to cut, letting go of the old year |
| New Year's Day onward | Ozoni | Soup with mochi; recipes vary by region and family |
| First days of January | Osechi ryori | Tiered boxes: kuromame (health), datemaki (learning), kazunoko (many children), kohaku kamaboko (celebration), kuri kinton (wealth), tazukuri (good harvest) |
| Around 11 January | Kagami mochi | The display mochi is broken and eaten in kagami biraki |
8. Which Japanese desserts and snacks should you try?
| Treat | What it is |
|---|---|
| Daifuku, mochi, mitarashi dango | Pounded rice cakes, often with sweet red bean paste, or skewered with a sweet soy glaze |
| Dorayaki, taiyaki | Pancake sandwich or fish-shaped cake with red bean filling |
| Purin, milk pudding | Custard pudding with caramel |
| Japanese cheesecake | Light, fluffy "cotton" cheesecake (see our cheesecake recipe) |
| Anmitsu, raindrop cake, matcha mille crepe, strawberry shortcake, fruit parfait | Café and home desserts |
| Japanese peanuts | Peanuts in a crunchy flour-and-soy-sauce shell; eat the shell, it is the coating |
| Ume (Japanese plum) | Never eaten raw; pickled as umeboshi, or made into umeshu and syrup. The raw fruit and seeds should not be eaten. |
| Watermelon | A summer favourite, also played as suikawari (blindfolded melon smashing); speciality growers even sell square watermelons |
Fruit in Japan is often given as a gift, which is part of why it looks so special: see why Japanese fruits are expensive.
9. Which Japanese fast-food chains are worth knowing?
| Chain | Speciality |
|---|---|
| Yoshinoya, Matsuya | Gyudon (beef bowls) |
| Ichiran | Tonkotsu ramen in solo booths (menu) |
| MOS Burger | Japanese-style burgers, including rice burgers |
| Sushiro | Conveyor-belt sushi |
| Tenya | Tendon (tempura rice bowls) |
| Nakau | Oyakodon and udon |
| KFC and McDonald's Japan | Local menus and limited editions (see KFC in Japan and McDonald's Japan menu) |
Hunting for a burger in the capital? Read burgers in Tokyo.
10. How is Japanese food different from Chinese and Western food?
| Japanese | Chinese | Western | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooking style | Simmering, grilling, steaming, raw; lighter on oil | Stir-frying and deep-frying in a wok; more oil | Roasting, baking, frying |
| Key seasonings | Dashi, soy sauce, miso, mirin | Soy sauce, garlic, ginger, chilli, five-spice, oyster sauce | Butter, herbs, salt, pepper, cream |
| Meal shape | Many small dishes around rice | Shared platters | One main plate, often in courses |
| Chopsticks | Shorter, pointed | Longer, blunt | Knife and fork |
| Typical tea or drink | Green tea | Oolong, jasmine and other teas | Coffee, water, soft drinks |
| Dairy | Rare in traditional food; cheese came with Western influence and now appears in modern dishes | Rare | Common |
11. Which Japanese foods are considered luxuries?
| Food | Why it is prized |
|---|---|
| Bluefin tuna (hon-maguro) | Fatty otoro belly; the first tuna auction of the year gets wide media coverage. Bluefin stocks are under conservation management. |
| Japanese spider crab (taka-ashigani) | The world's largest crab by leg span; edible and caught around Suruga Bay, usually steamed or boiled |
| Wagyu | Marbled beef from Japanese cattle breeds, such as Kobe or Matsusaka |
| Luxury fruit | Gift melons, grapes and shaped watermelons from speciality growers |
12. How do you cook Japanese rice in a rice cooker?
- Measure Japanese short-grain rice with the cooker's own cup.
- Rinse it gently in cold water, changing the water until it runs mostly clear.
- Add water up to the line for that number of cups in the inner pot. Without lines, use a little more water than rice by volume.
- Let it soak for around 30 minutes if you have time, then start the cooker on its white-rice setting.
- When it finishes, let it rest, then fluff it with a rice paddle.
Store leftovers in the fridge or freezer, and reheat with a splash of water. For sushi rice, cook with slightly less water and fold in seasoned rice vinegar while it is warm.
13. Which Japan Truly guide answers your question?
| If you want… | Read |
|---|---|
| Fast-food menus | KFC in Japan menu, McDonald's Japan menu |
| Ramen | Ichiran menu, best instant ramen |
| Cooking at home | best Japanese curry brands, Japanese cheesecake recipe |
| Snacks and drinks | convenience-store food, Ukon no Chikara |
| Fruit | why Japanese fruits are expensive |
| Eating out in Tokyo | burgers in Tokyo, Tokyo travel guide |
| Table manners | Japanese culture and etiquette guide |
Frequently asked questions
What do Japanese people eat for breakfast?
A traditional Japanese breakfast is steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish, pickles and often natto or tamagoyaki, served with green tea. Many households now eat toast, eggs and coffee instead, or mix both styles.
What is the difference between soba, udon and ramen?
Soba is thin buckwheat noodle served hot or cold. Udon is thick, chewy wheat noodle in a mild dashi broth. Ramen uses wheat noodles made with kansui (alkaline water) in a rich broth such as shoyu, miso, shio or tonkotsu.
Is sushi Chinese or Japanese?
The idea of preserving fish in fermented rice came from mainland Asia, but sushi as we know it, especially Edo-style nigiri with fresh fish on vinegared rice, developed in Japan.
What is the legal drinking age in Japan?
The legal drinking age in Japan is 20. This did not change when the age of adulthood was lowered to 18 in 2022.
What do Japanese people eat at New Year?
Toshikoshi soba on New Year's Eve, then osechi ryori (boxed celebration dishes such as kuromame, datemaki and kazunoko) and ozoni, a soup with mochi, over the first days of January.
Featured image: "Shogayaki 003" by Ocdp, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
