The traditions, techniques, ingredients and recipes.

This is a beautiful book. Lovely photos, and tons of them, which show you the food being talked about and the techniques to prepare it. The writing is very readable, and although I did not try any of the recipes, they also looked clear and easy enough to follow. I liked reading about the history, the culture and the reasons Japanese cuisine is what it is today.

All that being said, this did not inspire me to cook Japanese food. I don't think it is the fault of the book. It is because there is no fresh seafood (or fresh that I trust) near me, nor are there many of the other fresh or specialized ingredients used in this book. It is a book for cities, preferably cities on the coast. Although I am not inspired to cook out of the book, I appreciate having a better understanding of what the cuisine is so that the next time I visit a city with a Japanese restaurant I will know what to order! ( )

Excellent book. Now you know what Katsubushi, Myoga, Oden, Takuan are! You will understand "what is", "what does it look like" and "How do you eat it" of unique Japanese foods through tons of all color photgraphs.