Men Who Like to Travel - David Latt

Usually when I visit Japan, I head straight to Tokyo. I love the bright lights, the energy, the hurry-and-get-out-of-my-way attitude of people rushing from work to metro and home again. I love the technology and the great Izakaya bars serving yakitori and small plates. I adore the ramen and dry soba bowl joints where a meal and a beer costs next to nothing. I love the rows of densely packed yakitori, udon and tempura stalls in hidden corners of the city like Shinjuku's Memory Lane ( Omoide Yokocho ) and the soon-to-be-torn down Tsukiji Fish Market . I love all that and more, but for my latest trip I wanted to "light out for the territory" as Huck Finn said. I was headed to the Shoryudo Region which lies between Tokyo and Kyoto. In Japan’s heartland, the nine prefectures or provinces of the region offer great opportunities to explore the unusual and the fun. An Alpine Village Driving north from Nagano into the mountains,

The video tour of Tsukiji found below is also on my YouTube Channel:  Secrets of Restaurant Chefs . Last fall I visited Tokyo and returned to Tsukiji. It wasn't same.  Half of one block had been demolished, a tall construction wooden fence installed where closely packed stalls used to vie for customers. Walking up the block, the feeling was just as before. A crowded sidewalk filled with hungry people, checking what was offered by the food vendors, deciding what taste treat they wanted that day.  Inside the market, vendors called out in Japanese, advertising their fresh tuna sashimi, grilled scallops, steamed clams and sea urchin (uni) sliders. The little kitchen supply store was still there, as were stalls selling ceramic tea cups and kettles.  But there was definitely a feeling that the end was coming, a feeling echoed by news that the market will be totally gone by the fall this year. So, if you are traveling to Japan and you have a stop in Tokyo, definitely

Japan's imperial capital for over a thousand years, Kyoto is home to antique temples, historic public buildings and meticulously landscaped gardens and parks. Our traveling foodie, David Latt, takes us along with him as he explores Kyoto, starting with the tuna auction at 5:30 in the morning. No matter how early it starts, I have to see the tuna auction at the  Kyoto Central Wholesale Market . With my guide, Toshiro (“Toby”)  Sugihara , we walk through the cold concrete and steel building to find groups of men in heavy coats watching auctioneers flailing their arms around as they shout out prices. The buyers don't respond to the auctioneer until the price is right. Then a barely perceptible nod gives the auctioneer the sale he wants and he's on to the next fish. The most exclusive, expensive restaurants and sushi bars buy up the highest quality tuna. Before he became a tour guide, Toby was a sushi chef so he knows his tuna. He bends over a beautiful fish and points