Recommended Reading

Following is a select list of reading recommended by the author.

Japan Travel Bureau. Illustrated Eating in Japan. Tokyo: Japan Travel Bureau, 1985.
Don’t be deceived by the small, trivial appearance of this book. It is extremely useful and utterly reliable. An absolute mine of information; just what you want to know.

Krouse, Carolyn R. A Guide to Food Buying in Japan. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1986.
Full of useful information, this is the book to take shopping with you.

Okura, Shunji. Japanese Cuisine. Takamatsu: Cécile, 1993. 大倉舜二『日本の料理』 高松、 セシール、 1993.
Bilingual English and Japanese. Although this book can be obtained only from the mail-order firm that published it, it is well worth doing so. It covers a very wide scope from the historical and cultural points of view, and is full of the most wonderful and informative color photographs, since the author is a photographer.

Richie, Donald. A Taste of Japan. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1985.
Quite the best book for an introduction to Japanese food in context. Interesting, well-illustrated, and accessible.

Tsuji, Shizuo. Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1980.
An outstanding book, not only for its very wide range of reliable, fundamental recipes, but also for the enormous amount of useful, accurate information about Japanese foodstuffs, their availability abroad, and what, if anything, to substitute. It is not surprising that M.F.K. Fisher should have agreed to write the introduction.

Yoneda, Soei. The Heart of Zen Cuisine: A 600-year tradition of vegetarian cooking. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1982. First published as Good Food from a Japanese Temple.
The kind of book one falls in love with, it is actually very practical. Zen vegetarianism is very important in Japanese food culture and this book takes you to the heart of it. The introduction by Robert Farrer Capon is not to be ignored.

Yoshida, Mitsukuni and Sesoko Tsune. Naorai: Communion of the Table. Hiroshima: Mazda Motor Corporation, 1989.
Sheer delight, it is my favorite book on Japanese food. It has just the right historical and geographic perspective, is beautifully illustrated from old books and paintings as well as with excellent photographs, and is interesting and very informative. I have to recommend this book because it exists and is extremely good. I also reluctantly have to point out that it is out-of-print and unobtainable.