About food in Japan

Japanese green tea helps wellness

I attended the interesting event which was to promote Japanese green tea from Shizuoka (静岡).  There, a doctor works for a hospital in Kakegawa-city (掛川市), Shizuoka prefecture, presented observation by him and colleague doctors in the city and he implied cause-effect between intake green tea and wellness.

Although it is not yet proved scientifically with clear human testing, at least it is true that in Japanese cities of great consumption in green tea, citizens' average life is longer than ones of less consumption. 

Followings are some statistics and finds from medical reports and/or observations as the health enhancement effects of green tea.

Doctors' findings from residents' health conditions in Kagegawa city where residents often have tea through out a day.

- the lowest mortality of cancer, female ranked on top, male the second top among all cities in Japan with more than 100,000 populations

- City average length of life male 80.4 / female 86.4, higher than average of Japan

- while annual medical cost spent for elderly citizens is three quarters of national average cost and doctors/nurse and cancer departments much less required by the city compared with a typical city in Japan

- elderly people in the city overally look younger than actual age by 5 to 10 years

- their artery is less aged than average human in Japan

It is not specific for tea made in Kakegawa-city, as general effects, those who often have green tea is less likely to get diseases compared with others who do not have or less.

- dementia: among 1000 people of over 70's, the ratio of those have more than two cups of green tea per day is a half of those who have less

- obesity: when samples keep taking 500mg "tea catechin" per day for 8 to 12 weeks, their body mass index(BMI), visceral fat rate and abdominal girth are improved

- arterial sclerosis: those who have 5 or more cups of green tea per day got disease related cardiac blood vessels at less ratio by 30% compared with ones who have less than one cup per day

As "kakegawa study", the doctor and medical specialist team will keep their research for clearer scientific evidences with human testing data and whether there is any variance in wellness effect among different species of tea leaves. 

Kakegawa study (Japanese only)  http://www.kakegawastudy.jp/

Following the medical insights, we tasted green tea from Shizuoka prefecture and dessert specially made with green tea.

To serve nice cup of green tea...

Amount of tea leaves -  5g per person (one tea-spoonful)

Pour 70 degree C of hot water into a tea pot (that is better than boiled water)

Maccha sherbet and jelly included with vanilla ice cream

Sorry, it was exclusive for the event...

Well, where we can get green tea from Shizuoka?

It can be available even at super markets and major department stores, because over 40% of Japanese tea leaf is produced in Shizuoka prefecture. 

To be surer, at tea special shops or Shizuoka Plaza, the unit in Tokyo specialized in promoting products from Shizuoka.

Otherwise, an online shop specialized in Japanese green tea from Shizuoka, 

Chamichami.com was launched this year to introduce Japanese green tea to be enjoyed in casual manners. They source their green tea products directly from tea farmers in Shizuoka. The website is in Japanese so far but they are happy to receive orders in English and to ship them abroad from Japan.  

Chamichami.com - Japanese green tea online shop

Website: http://www.chamichami.com

Shizuoka Plaza (in Yurakucho, Tokyo)

Address: Basement 1st floor Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan, 2-10-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

*The building Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan (東京交通会館） is just in front of JR Yurakucho station. 

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Shizuoka prefecture reported the result of radioactivity test on tea. It shows there is no negative health influence on consumption of tea from Shizuoka.

For more information, please visit the link. 

http://www.pref.shizuoka.jp/sangyou/sa-340/20110520_test_results_radio_activity.html

 

Hello Kitty x Dominique Saibron baguette bag

OHHH, We could never imagine such a cute "baguette bag"

 

Following rusk in Hello Kitty package box, Japanese units of French high end baker, Le Boulanger Dominique Saibron offers a new product, "baguette bag" with Hello Kitty face as well as logo of "Tokyo".

 

The size is exactly for thier iconic product "Baguette Le Boulanger" (Yen 357).

On one side, an orange belt is attached so you can hold the bag easily.

On the other side, the logo Hello Kitty x Dominique Saibron appears.

 

It may be a good souvenir for people from France? so they can use on daily life it when they go back to their country. I am not sure how many times we have a chance to bring the French long-size bread, "baguette" in town of Tokyo or any other cities other than ones in France. Still I could not help but bringing a piece to a cash counter....

What do you want to put in the bag ? if it is not baguette.

 

Hello Kitty x Dominiuqe Saibron baguette bag costs each Yen525. The shop also offers a bag + "one piece of Baguette Le Bouranger" at special price Yen 735. The bread is also very nice, classic French style baquette.

It is available at units of Le Bouranger Dominique Saibron in Tokyo and their brand-new branch in Osaka. Nor is it available at the flagship boutique in Paris (77 avenue du general Leclerc 75014 Paris) nor is at Sanrio shop or Hello Kitty stores in Japan.

Several units of Le Boulanger Dominiuqe Saibron are in convenient location of central Tokyo such as...

Dominique Saibron Akasaka Main store 

Address: Akasaka Biz Tower, 5-3-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Nearest stations: Akasaka-Mitsuke, Akasaka, Tameike-Sanno

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Dominique Saibron Ginza Mitsukoshi

Address: Ginza Mitsukoshi Departmentstore, 4-6-16 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Nearest stations: Ginza

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Dominique Saibron Marche - Tokyo Station Keiyo Street 

Location: inside of JR Tokyo Station 1st floor "Keiyo Street"

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Dominique Saibron Marche et Cafe - Shinjuku LUMINE

Address: B2 floor Shinjuku LUMINE1, 1-1-5 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Nearest stations: Shinjuku

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Dominique Saibron Marche et Cafe - LUCUA Osaka

Address: LUCUA Osaka B1F, 3-1-3 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka

Nearest station: Osaka, Umeda 

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For other stores location, please visit Dominique Saibron official site. It is Japanese version but at least you can find google map with store name.

http://www.maxim-s.co.jp/akasaka/ds/shop.html

 

Nihonbashi Kinoshige (日本橋 紀ノ重） - fish on parade from Tsukiji Market

Kinoshige (紀ノ重) is originally an established whole-seller with four-century history in Tokyo and based in Tsukiji Market. Is it great if we have a chance to taste seafood products carefully selected by the discerning professional Kinoshige buyers with their strong connections in the fishery? In Nihonbashi, Japan's financial centre, there is a Japanese restaurant or Izakaya (居酒屋) with Kinoshige brand.

The restaurant, Nihonbashi Kinoshige (日本橋　紀ノ重) is accommodated in the new building, COREDO Muromachi (室町) opened in 2010. The building is in a prime location, just in front of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Tokyo one of the most luxury hotel in the cosmopolitan, a block away from Bank of Japan or a few steps from Mitsukoshi (三越) department flagship store.

On the contrary to the financial district atmosphere surrounding location, inside of Nihonbashi Kinoshige, it is purposely decorated like "Tsukiji Market" site with Fish market sign boards hang on top and raw seafood displayed towards dining tables. The tables and chairs are unusual as a restaurant and look like wooden box stacked up. What a fun dining experience in a fish market atmoshere!

The menu list can be described fresh seasonal fish and seafood "on parade". Yes, they know the best way to taste each kind of seafood offered, sashimi, ryoshi-yaki (漁師焼, fishery style grill with sauce), genshi-yaki (原始焼, "primitive" style" grill), himono (干物, dried), nimono (煮物, well-cooked in pot) etc. We can never get tired of tasting seafood there. 

Complimentary starter - Squid spicy sauce, cooked with candle fire in front of us

Assorted very fresh sashimi plate 

Left: Octopus and vegetable in vinegar

Right: Salmon rolls (bottom) and

"non-fish dish" (top) fried roll with cheese and sake-kasu（酒粕, sake lees)

Of course Nihonbashi Kinoshige offer nice and wide selections of Japanese sake including ones from Tohoku (as long as stocks available). They must be excellent match with fish and seafood dishes proviede at the restaurant. 

My favourite sake from Fukushima, "Hiroki", not sure if it still has more stock...

and orange liqueur 

***** Update 3rd May 2012 ******

The restaurant is no longer called "Kinoshige" but is "Suminoe". The concept is altered a bit. But it is still under the same operator and the atmosphere and seafood focusing food menu are similar. Hence our recommendation for the restaurant remains. New English website is here.http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g753342/lang/en/
Thanks!

Restaurant name: Nihonbashi Kinoshige

Address: 2nd floor, COREDO Muromachi, 2-2-1 Nihonbashi Muromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g753342/lang/en/

 

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Tharros, Italian restaurant in Shibuya (渋谷) offers Wine Charity plan

Tharros, an Italian restaurant in Shibuya, featuring specifically south Italy and Sardinia food, started Charity Wine plan for their diners. As the charity plan, the first glass wine is offered to guests just at Yen100. If the guests would, they are encouraged to pay more than the price Yen100 and the amount will be contributed as donation to the earthquake and tsunami disaster relief.

The charity plan, named as "Gambari AMO" is offered until the end of July 2011, along with another promotion plan, stamp rally by which 5 stamps out of 10 Italian restaurants in Shibuya becomes a Yen 5000 voucher consumable at Tharros. 

Well, more about Tharros, it is situated a few minutes walk from Shibuya station and the "world-busiest" Shibuya crossing. In the area behind two big commercial complex, Tokyu Plaza and Shibuya Mark City, some interesting small restaurants can be found in addition to Tharros and Cowbelle which was introduced on this blog in the past.

 

South Italian style antipastini dishes

such as tuna, sardine, mushrooms... 

Sardinian pasta "fregula" with pork sausages looks like rice ...

but it is small pieces of pasta

"Pane frattau" Sardinia style lasagna with poached egg

With rich in seafood, olive oil and tomato sauce, their Italian dishes are healthy and good taste of course!

Let's enjoy healthy Italian and contribute to donation at the same time!

About Gambari AMO promotion plan, it is also available in English on eatpia.com.

http://www.eatpia.com/restaurant/tharros-shibuya-italian

Restaurant name: Tharros

Address: SEDE Building 1st floor, 1-5-2 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.tharros.jp

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Daichi no ki (大地の木), Takadanobaba (高田馬場) - Singaporean, Malaysian food

 Many Japanese people, including me who visited South East Asia, like Singapore style chicken rice (海南鶏飯, Hainanese chicken rice ). The typical hawker menu, cooked chicken with rice is available even in Tokyo by Malaysian chef. Daichi no ki (大地の木) is a small casual restaurant located in Takadanobaba (高田馬場), known as a "student town" in Tokyo.  

The restaurant offers wide selections of Asian food, Chinese small starter dishes, Korean hot pepper soup, Thai style salad etc. The atmosphere and the price are casual but the taste is authentic and appreciated by Asian food lovers in Tokyo. 

One of the speciality Singapore style chicken rice set menu, I had. Yes the spicy sauce and rice are similar to what I had in South East Asia. 

Another speciality of Daichi no ki is Penang style shrimp noodle. The noodle soup in red looks very hot and it is made with stock (bouillon) from lobster's head, which is very rate to find in Japan and also what I would like to try on my next visit.

By the way, the retsuarant name "Daichi no ki" is purely in Japanese, "tree on the land".

  

With the decoration and non-Japanese staff on the floor as well as the plates provided, I felt as if I were travelling in Singapore or  somewhere else in South East Asia. I enjoyed a very short "escape" to the south from Tokyo there.

By the way, related to Singapore, a travel seller group is sending a delegation team to Japan during this week. The team is reporting what's going on in Japan at this moment through their own eyes on facebook.

Please also check their facebook page liked to know how they see in Japan, if you would.

http://www.facebook.com/ChanBrothersTravelSG

 

Restaurant name: Daichi no ki (大地の木)

Address: Meiho Building 1st floor, 2-14-9 Shinjuku-ku, Takadanobaba, Tokyo

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Ruri, Ginza (瑠璃, 銀座) - cafe with Japanese-Western sweets

It is rate to find a cosy space with nice cups of tea and cakes in Ginza, as many of cafe in central locations are always busy and filled with guests. Ruri (瑠璃), who's name represents "lapise lazuli" in Japanese, was newly opened in 2010 just a few blocks away from Ginza 4-chome crossing. In spite of the central location, the space and surrounding are calm and can be a good oasis while enjoying shopping at luxury boutiques.

 

What is great of Ruri is not only the modern Japanese taste interior and decorations but also sweets selections offered on the menu, Due to the cafe's owner company, Mon Chou Chou based in Osaka, Ruri cafe provides several selections of Mon Chou Chou sweets including very popular "Dojima Roll" (堂島ロール).

 

Dojima Roll (堂島ロール) is made with fresh cream from Hokkaido and wrapped with soft sponge cake. The sweet is awarded as Grand Gold Quality by Monde Selection in 2010 and it is greatly appreciated by Japanese clients. People are always making a queue line for Dojima Roll at Mon Chou Chou stand in major department stores in Tokyo. Some cases it is sold out.  

 

Here we do not have to make a long line to get a piece of cake rather we can have it with tea at the comfortable cafe space.

Maccha roll is exclusive to the cafe Ruri. Sponge cake and cream is made with maccha, Japanese green tea. Sweet beans paste is inside of maccha cream. It makes combination of Japanese traditional ingredients and Western-style roll cake.

Casuteran, natural honey is used for and served with fresh cream and sweet beans paste to dip.

Ruri has not only cafe space but also sweets gift shops attached where we can find these fancy cakes and other sweets in gift box for take away.

 

Cafe name: Ginza Ruri

Website: http://www.ginza-ruri.com

 Mon Chou Chou official home page: http://mon-chouchou.com

************* UPDATE 9th September 2013 *****************

Unfortunately Ginza Ruri Cafe was closed.

Some sweets mentioned above post, such as Dojima Roll are still available at boutiques of Patisserie Mon Cher in Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo.

************************************************************* 

Save the sake (酒) in Tohoku

Tohoku (東北) region, where it got the most serious damage by the natural disaster, big earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 and followed aftershocks, has also been famous for sake (酒, 日本酒) production. As we can imagine, sake breweries in Tohoku are suffering the damage on their production facilities, product and/or ingredients stocks etc. Consequently the damage on breweries also impacted negatively on sake whole-sellers in Tohoku. Sake lovers across Japan, maybe around the world feel distress at the situation. To order sake from Tohoku at restaurants is a part of contribution to recovering from the damage.

Here I introduce two activities based in Tokyo to support sake breweries and whole-sellers in Tohoku region for promoting their products and giving information about the situation. 

SAVE KURA MIYAGI

A bar in Shibuya, called Kukai, is taking initiative to connect between sake whole-sellers, producers (can be expressed as KURA /蔵, sake stockage) in Miyagi prefecture and consumers through bars and restaurants in Tokyo and surrounding area. Its partner restaurants and bars purchase sake made in Miyagi from local whole-sellers to offer the products on their clients. The participants restaurants show the logo sticker (like the image right) on the site. 

Some of partner restaurants, bar are...

Kukai (公界), Shibuya / bar /  http://news.kukai.biz/

Seikoen (清香園), Shibuya / BBQ /  http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a491700/lang/en/

Padrino del Shozan, Venus Fort Odaiba / http://shozan-international.com

Los Barbados, Shibuya / Arab-African cuisine / http://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~los-barbados/

The participants will be introduced further on the website. 

http://blog.livedoor.jp/savekura/archives/4581270.html

 

Save the Tohoku no sake (東北の酒)

Ms. Kaori Haishi,  a sake sommelier and journalist, launched the website since April 2011, as one of Tohoku sake lovers. She voluntary organizes the site to support damaged sake breweries and to share informaiton related sake in Tohoku. What is very good for this blog readers.... the information in English are also AVAILABLE thanks to her language skill. The site contents include introduction of Tohoku breweries, photo reports from devasted area, warm supporting messages from sake lovers as well as sake retailers, sake producers across Japan. 

Save the Tohoku no sake  http://save-sake.com/top

Let's enjoy sake from Tohoku region and support them for recovering!

 

Nostalgic dining car - Nippon Shokudo (日本食堂) at Tokyo Station (東京駅)

From the end of April to the first week of May, it is one of the biggest holiday seasons in Japan, called "Golden Week". Along with four bank holidays, the 29th of April Day of Showa (previously known as Showa Emperor's birthday), the 3rd through to 5th of May Constitution Memorial Day, Green Day, Children's Day consecutively and weekends around, some people take a long holiday week and go out for vacation, outdoor activities or sightseeing. This year it is a bit different especially in Tohoku region where the best season of Sakura, cherry blossoms, falls in the Golden Week of May. Because of the natural disaster damage, less people visited cherry blossom spots in Tohoku, while many people across Japan rushed to the Pacific coast side for volunteer activities at damaged area. 

JR Tokyo Station, which is a base for departing to provinces, is still crowded with tourists during this week. Before or After the trip to outside Tokyo, why not take Yoshoku (洋食) lunch or dinner in a nostalgic dining car style restaurant? 

Nippon Shokudo (日本食堂) has been an icon brand of dining car in its florescence 60's to 70's. The good-old-days dining car atmosphere is re-created as a restaurant inside JR Tokyo Station where it has been a base of Japan journey even today.

The food provided at the nostalgic restaurant is also included in the atmosphere. The restaurant's speciality are dishes with "demi-glace sauce" which has been taken over and developed from the original version served for 70 years as a part of Nippon Shokudo's history. It also offers NIPPON SHOKUDO special course which includes French cuisine dishes, as main and dessert, same with ones at popular overnight express trains, "Cassiopeia"(カシオペア号) and "Hokuto-shichisei" (北斗七星号)  both running between Ueno Tokyo and Sapporo, Hokkaido.  Even without moving physically, we could feel as if we were travelling on board for a while at the restaurant.

I had Nippon Shokudo's speciality Hayashi-rice (ハヤシライス),

stew with Japanese sirloin beef well cooked in demi-glace sauce.

It is an excellent Yoshoku (洋食) plate

Taking advantage of the location, inside of Tokyo Station, it opens from 7a.m. in the morning and provides special breakfast menu, "Omelette with demi-glace sauce". It must be a good morning break... I will try it some day.

 

Restaurant name: Nippon Shokudo (日本食堂)

Location: Gransta Dining, North Court, First floor of inside Tokyo station

Restaurant operator's site (in Japanese): 

http://www.nre.co.jp/shop/db/detail_00430/

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Takahashi in Tsukiji Market (高はし, 築地市場）

Takahashi (高はし) is the second restaurant we dined on our Tsukiji Market visit, following Sushi Dai (寿司大) as my previous post. This is also a popular restaurant in Tsukiji Market with guests who do not hesitate to make a queue line for have meal there. It is more a casual dining compared with Sushi Dai and it can be a typical restaurant for the market workers after their hard working from very early morning. As same with the Sushi restaurant, Takahashi also has a counter table to serve around 10 diners at a time. We had been again lucky on the day and were seated as soon as we arrived without waiting.  

The restaurant's speciality "Super Anago-don" (スーパー穴子丼, superior conger eel rice bowl) is often featured by mass-media. But it is too much for us who already had sushi course in the same morning even though we had one hour walking tour at Tsukiji Market whole-sale area...

We ordered some fish dishes to taste their fresh high quality specialities with Japanese sake.

Seasonal and assortment Sashimi plates selected by chef 

At Takahashi, it is a pitty if someone finishs his/her meal only with sashimi plate.

They also serve very good cooked and grilled fish dishes. 

Well-cooked conger eel is so soft and sweeeeeet.

Today's grilled fish, trout is so big enough to share by 4 people...

Complimentary small starter dish, also well-cooked vegerables,

a typical home-made food

 

Menu is changed day by day, season by season, depending on what they sourced from the fish market. All available dishes are on the information board at the restaurant, in Japanese language only though. At least what is sure...whatever you order, no dish will disappoint you at Takahashi. 

My post related:

Tsukiji Market

http://aboutfoodinjapan.weblogs.jp/blog/2011/04/tsukiji-market.html

RestaurSushi Dai, Tsukiji Market (寿司大 築地市場)

http://aboutfoodinjapan.weblogs.jp/blog/2011/05/sushi-dai-in-tsukiji-market.html

Related links: Tsukiji Market plan in Japanese

http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/youkoso/medemiru/medemiru.htm

*Buildings with light orange colour, where restaurants are mainly located

 

Restaurant name: Takahashi (高はし)

Address: the 8th building, Tsukiji Market, 5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 

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Sushi Dai in Tsukiji Market (寿司大 築地市場)

In addition to visit of Tsukiji Market (築地市場) wholesale area, we got a chance to dine at restaurants in the market site. In Tsukiji Market where the trades is mainly made for wholesale professionals, restaurants on site welcome not only market workers but also general visitors as their dining guests. That is why some restaurants have a long queue lines in front of them. 

Among restaurants stand in a row and those are located on the ground floor of 10 buildings close to a car parking, a few hundreds meters away from the main gate, we selected Sushi Dai, one of the most popular restaurants in Tsukiji Market. For the restaurant Sushi Dai, it has NOT been rare that diners have to wait for a few hours to get a seat in the 12-seat counter Sushi restaurant. However when we visited the restaurant on a weekday of the last week on April 2011, only 4 people were waiting before us!! Finally we were seated after about 20 minutes waiting. What lucky we are !! In other words, it means, after the big earthquake on March 2011, Tsukiji Market restaurants also got negative impact on their business because of decreased number of both international and domestic tourists. Anyway, at least we got an advantage of the situation and  we were happy financially to contribute to the restaurant's business.

The restaurant offer two sets menu; "Omakase course" (おまかせ, "trust chef" or chef's selections) and Jyou (上, literally meaning "Superior" but the restaurant humbly express in English as "Standard" course) On the entrance door, it hangs an information plate in English as well. 

 

To embrace the opportunity, of course, we ordered "Omakase couse" which includes 10 pieces of chef's selection "nigiri sushi" (握りずし, hand-shaped sushi with raw fish on top of rice)  plus one piece of sushi as your favourite, as well as, "maki sushi" (巻きずし, rolled sushi), rolled egg, abd miso soup. The chef are enough kind to consult and listen to what you want and you don't or can't eat  then adjust the menu for your request based on Omakase course, before the meal starts. So please feel ease and just look forward to what will have for next an hour at the sushi counter. 

Seating on one of the twelve high chairs at the Sushi restaurant, the scene is exactly for a typical Sushi restaurant; some fresh seafood in a refrigerated case is just in front of us and behind the case, chefs are making Sushi with the hands and serving them to clients with smile as soon as they are made. 

Several examples what we had there as seasonal Omakase course. (Just keep in mind that sushi items are changed by season and by fishery supplying situation.)

Hokkigai (ホッキ貝, surf clam),

it was "alive" when it served in front of me

Uni (ウニ, sea urchin)

Maguro (マグロ, tuna) duke (づけ, dipped in soy sauce)

Shiroebi (白海老, white shrimps)

Aji (鯵, horse mackerel)

Kohada (コハダ, spotted shad)

I have never seen one twisted like this

Kinmedai (金目鯛, alfonsino)

kobu-jime (昆布締め, fish stored and flavoured with kobu, dried kelp),

ordered as my favorite request

As an additional dish with supplement,

we had grilled Anago (穴子, conger eel),

one piece seasoned with salt and another with soy sauce 

Rolled egg is sweet and soft and

something that cannot be missed

Related links: 

My post related - Tsukiji Market

http://aboutfoodinjapan.weblogs.jp/blog/2011/04/tsukiji-market.html

Tsukiji Market plan in Japanese

http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/youkoso/medemiru/medemiru.htm

*Buildings with light orange colour, where restaurants are mainly located

Restaurant name: Sushi Dai (寿司大)

Address: the 6th building, Tsukiji Market, 5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Website in Japanese: http://www.tsukijigourmet.or.jp/22_sushidai/index.htm#03

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